Fire and Ice
by Unwritten Whispers
Summary: 5th year was supposed to be perfect for Aster Black and her best friends, Fred, George, and Lee - they finally became Animagis and she was Prefect. But then her uncle had to go & escape from Azkaban. Plus she has to deal with the Ministry sending Dementors to Hogwarts for her, & to make things worse the new werewolf professor has a personal vendetta against her. FULL SUMMARY INSIDE
1. A Million Years Away

**Disclaimer: You all already know this, but Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. I only take credit for Aster Black – the daughter of Regulus Black and an unknown witch!**

**Okay, so I know I have 6 stories going on right now, and I'm not touching 4 of them until I finish Simplest Simplicities and A Brothers War, but I was currently in the hospital for the ending of August and beginning of September, then I had the whole surgery thing, and I ripped out the staples so the healing process is taking longer than it's meant to, so I wrote and FINISHED this story while healing, seeing as how I didn't want to chance touching any of my other ones while in a fragile state of mind! So yes, this story is completely pau already.**

**Summary: Aster Black is in her 5th year at Hogwarts, and best friends with the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan. She doesn't know her father because he was an eighteen year old Death Eater who got killed when she was a month old, and she doesn't know her mum because she left her with her dad. Aster was raised in an orphanage where she reminded Mrs. Cole of a young boy named Tom, but Aster soon proved she was nothing like young Tom. Placed into Gryffindor, she was known as a prankster with her best friends. 5th year was supposed to be easier; she was a Prefect with her crush Adrian Pucey, and she and her best friends just became Animagis at the ending of the year before. But now everything is ruined when her uncle decided to escape from Azkaban, and the Ministry decides to send Dementors to kiss her before Sirius has a chance to turn her into a Death Eater like him and his brother – her father. Things get weird this year with a werewolf as a professor, an un-registered Animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew running around, and her uncle thinking she's going to turn out like his brother. Not to mention, she just found out Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy used to babysit her while her dad did Death Eater errands. 5th year is nothing like she thought it would be. Who said Harry gets to have all of the fun?**

A Million Years Away

They say that a star is millions of years away from you, and that when a shooting star falls in front of you; you're wishing on a star that fell from the sky millions of years before. Some people choose to ignore the facts because they prefer the idea of wishing on stars… they like the idea of being allowed to wish for nicer things. But fifteen year old Aster Black was different. She didn't like to wish on shooting stars, nor did she stare out of her window every night because she thought the stars were beautiful as they lit up the sky – she watched the stars because she loved the idea of something being millions of years away. If a star was a million years old then it meant that the past must have been beautiful once. Unlike all girls her age, she didn't fall in love with shooting stars; but more so hated the idea of a star falling from the sky… it meant that beautiful things fall. There was no explanation to her thoughts, but just the simple facts that she hated shooting stars, she thought stars were beautiful once upon a time, she loved the idea of the past, and she hated how quickly beautiful things could fall. In Aster's mind, the more beautiful you were the quicker you fell.

Tonight wasn't that different at the Wool Orphanage in London. With her knees pressed against her chest, Aster stared out the window above her bed while the other girls peacefully slept around her. Aster was the only one in the orphanage to return every year. It seemed as if she was born in this broken down home; brought in when she was only a year old. Couples loved to adopt her when she was young, but they always returned her after a couple of weeks because strange things happened when she was around. She didn't mean for strange things to happen, but she couldn't seem to stop them. Mrs. Cole, the elderly caretaker of the orphanage, always sighed with an exasperated look when she heard the stories told to her about the young girl. Then when Aster turned eleven she found out why she was strange.

She was a witch. At least that's what Professor Dumbledore told her. She laughed at him in the beginning, but when he and Mrs. Cole both kept their straight faces on she knew that he was telling the truth. Professor Dumbledore was the one who took her into Diagon Alley to buy her school things, and he was the one who took her into the goblin-run bank, Gringotts, and explained to her that her father had once been one of the wealthiest wizards in the wizarding world. Aster finally had money to pay for things – nice things. She would leave in September, and return in June to find that the home was filled with brand new faces. All of her friends had been adopted while she was in school. This year was no different… she returned from her fourth year at Hogwarts, and saw that the orphanage now had eleven boys and only seven girls. Because of the small numbers, Mrs. Cole gave Aster only two girls to share her room with until it was time for her to return to Hogwarts.

Mrs. Cole was an odd woman, but she was the closest thing to a family member that Aster had. She was old enough to look like a walking skeleton, but she had a fierceness to her that made Aster fear her more than Professor McGonagall. Once she learned that she had money, Aster asked Professor Dumbledore if she could switch the galleons to muggle pounds so she could buy something nice for Mrs. Cole. After all the things that she put that poor woman through, she wanted to be able to pay her back. It was evident that Mrs. Cole feared her in the beginning, but after a while she seemed to warm up to the idea of her being a witch. Apparently Aster reminded Mrs. Cole of some boy named Tom. It was Mrs. Cole who accompanied her to Diagon Alley ever since the first year, leaving the orphanage in the hands of Miss Benson, who once grew up in there as well. Mrs. Cole was also the one to catch the bus with her to go to Kings Cross. Mrs. Cole was there for her when she needed her to be, so Aster tried her hardest to behave when she returned during the summer holidays, but it was hard to… especially when she was best friends with the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan.

"Go to sleep now, Aster."

Turning her head away from the window, and towards the doorway that Mrs. Cole was now standing in, Aster took in the patched up grey nightgown and reminded herself to buy a new one before she left for school. "Yes, Ma'am," she grinned.

Trying to keep a serious face, but failing when her lips twitched, Mrs. Cole sighed. "Goodnight, little one."

"'Night, Mrs. Cole."

Lying on her back so that she could watch the shadows from the outside world dance above her, Aster pulled the thin purple blanket up to her chest. It was on cold nights like these that she wished she was allowed to use magic outside of school. It was no fair living in the muggle world where she was the only witch for miles. Fred and George always used magic when their mum wasn't watching them. How was the Ministry supposed to know it was them, and not their mum or dad, or even one of their older brothers?

"Aaaassssttteeeeerrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrr….."

Groaning as her arms were being pulled, and her name was being butchered, Aster opened her eyes. "What, Lila?"

"I want to play outside," the eight year old girl whined, "And Mrs. Cole said that I can't go outside unless you go with me."

"Why can't Jimmy go with you?" Jimmy Brookes was the only other oldest person at the orphanage aside from herself. Jimmy was sixteen years old, and he was brought in four months before Aster returned from school.

"Because Jimmy went into town with Mr. Doyle to get his new school things. Please, Aster. I want to play on the swing."

"Fine," Aster sighed, realizing she would never get to go back to sleep, "Let me get changed."

Sirius ignored the incredulous stares that he got from everybody. He was a large wolfish dog the color of death; of course he was getting stares. Not to mention he hadn't bathed in twelve years so his hair was all matted. But he had also been waiting twelve years for the chance to make things right. It was one of his most horrid memories that the Dementors fed on – he denied an innocent child because he was hurt of the life his brother chose. While in Azkaban he realized that his brother learned his mistakes and wanted to do right with his life… but he turned him away when he asked for shelter for him and his daughter. Regulus was seventeen when he knocked up some pureblooded wench, he was seventeen when she abandoned him and the daughter she gave birth to, and he was eighteen when he died. The Minister at the time arrived at his home with the one year old girl, but Sirius denied her; he didn't care that she was an orphan; he just didn't want the spawn of his Death Eater brother. This was finally his chance to make things right.

Sirius staked out three other places already, but none of them gave off magical energy… until now. So here he was… sitting outside the gate and watching the older girl push the younger girl on the swing. He wouldn't have believed she was his niece – not until he saw her. Everything about her looks screamed that she had the Black bloodline. He didn't know who her mother was, aside from the fact that she was a pureblooded witch, and with the girl's traits he never would be able to tell who she was. The girl took after everyone on his brother's side of the family – she took nothing from her mother.

The girl was tall and slender, but there were the Black womanly curves in there. Her skin was pale like all of them, and her hair fell to her waist in thick, long, raven colored ringlets. Her eyes were large and round like his cousin Bellatrix's, and the same silver color that both he and his brother shared. When she smiled, Sirius saw the same dimples that Regulus always had. It was the rest of her that had Sirius groaning at the idea of having a niece instead of a nephew. But she definitely took it from her convict uncle. Dressed in white colored athletic shorts, the girl wore a simple black tank-top, and Sirius could see that she was painted with tattoos. It was obvious that she did them all illegally, because you must be eighteen in order to get a tattoo unless you have your parent or guardian with you; which was obviously not the case. And it wasn't just tiny, simple tattoos either – she had tons of them…

Behind her left ear, Aster had a black raven's feather that reached to just above her neck. Starting from the front left side of her chest she had grey swirls that held two large sized butterflies: the butterflies were both black and silver; looking more like beautiful moths. It started from just beneath her neck and ended just on her left breast. Sirius couldn't make it out, but her entire left forearm seemed to be covered in words, while the word _Love _adorned her left middle finger, and a tiny heart was tattooed on her ring finger. Behind her right ear seemed to be a trail of tiny stars that wrapped around to the back of her neck, and when she bent down to fix the little girl's fallen slipper he could see that it ended inside of her shorts. On her right shoulder was an empty birdcage. Right below the empty cage were the words, _You're only as free as your mind…_ then she had more tiny written words on the inside of her right wrist. Her right pinky held the word _Promise_, while the side of the back of her right hand had a large infinity sign. Sirius could see something sticking out from her left ribs, but he couldn't make it out because her shirt was covering it, and he could barely make out a large black tiger across her lower stomach. Her right thigh had a picture of a crow chasing a butterfly on it, while her left thigh held a song bird that looked as if it belonged in the cage on her arm. The song bird seemed to be bordered with hearts and stars keeping it a prisoner. There was a stick person on the inside of her left ankle, and the phrase _Make your own path _on the side of her right foot.

Sirius had to admit that he was quite impressed with the girl's tattoos. He knew that his brother would be rolling around in whatever grave he was tossed inside, but he was impressed. Regulus had always hated tattoos; the dark mark being his only one. At least the girl didn't follow in his steps…

"Ooh, look Aster, a doggy."

Sirius heard the little girl acknowledge him, so he put on his best doggy face and panted for them. "Lila," his niece calmly said, "Lila, why don't you go inside and bring out a bowl of water for the dog."

Jumping off the swing, the young girl ran without her slippers. "Okay, Aster. Make sure you watch the doggy, okay."

"I will, love," Sirius noticed the darkness take over the girl's eyes. She pushed back her hair and moved close enough for him to see that she had at least four holes in each ear where there should be earrings. What was it with this girl and needles? Aster sniffed the air, and she growled at the dog. "I don't know who you are," she warned him, "But I suggest you leave."

Sirius was confused. How did she know he wasn't human? He watched the way her lips curled in disgust while her nose continued to take in his scent. Whimpering, he tried to tell her that he wouldn't harm her. He was her uncle; he was there to protect her.

"I mean it," she growled again. Glad that anybody watching her would think she was playing with the dog, Aster leaned her head against the gate separating them. "I think that Professor Dumbledore would like to know that there's an un-registered Animagus running around near the orphanage, don't you?"

Sirius's confusion only deepened. How the hell did she know he was unregistered? Unless…

"You have three seconds to either show who you really are or leave these streets, or I'm going to use my wand on you," Sirius continued to sit there; filled with pride at how brave his niece was against him, and at how smart she must be if she accomplished becoming an un-registered Animagus as well. "One…" his eyes filled up with doggy tears, earning a frown from her, "Two…"

With a bark, Sirius jumped up. He reached his paw out touch her at least once, but she jumped back as if on instinct. Attempting to curl his lips to smile at her, Sirius ran off; ready to confront the son of James and Lily. At least his niece was safe where she was at, and she seems to be pretty happy. Curious as to what animal she could turn into, Sirius was also confused as to why he couldn't sense her as a creature. Back when he was in Hogwarts, once he, James, and the bloody rat all succeeded their transformations they could sense each other even in human form. So why couldn't he sense her?

_Miss Black,_

_ I'm not sure if you've heard it on the muggle news or not, but it seems that Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban. We do not know his purpose for leaving, but seeing as how he is dangerous and he knows where you are currently staying, we see it prudent that you leave the orphanage immediately. Arthur and Molly Weasley have both agreed that you could stay with them for the remainder of the holidays. I will arrive shortly to escort you to their home._

_ Headmaster Albus Dumbledore_

Blinking as she re-read the letter, Aster could feel her temperature rising. That had to have been him. It's been three hours since she's seen the strange Animagus hanging outside of the orphanage, and now she was reading a letter from Professor Dumbledore telling her that her uncle had escaped Azkaban. She didn't know much about him, except that he was in Azkaban. She didn't know much about her family at all, actually.

Well, she knew that her dad was Regulus Black, and that he had her when he was seventeen. She knew that she was taken to the orphanage when she was only a year old because Regulus turned against Voldemort and was killed – apparently her dad was a Death Eater. Aster knew that Draco Malfoy was her cousin because his mum and her dad were first cousins, and she knew that aside from her uncle Sirius she was the only pureblooded Black to be sorted into Gryffindor. And she also knew that her uncle Sirius was currently in Azkaban – the place he had been for the last twelve years. Why he was in there – she had no idea, but he was dangerous apparently… at least according to Professor Dumbledore's letter. Oh, and she knew that her uncle didn't want her after her dad died because he thought that at only a year old she would kill him for her Dark Lorded Master… Aster didn't know much but about her uncle, but what she did know sickened her.

"Hullo, Aster."

Turning around, Aster blushed when she saw her headmaster enter the messy bedroom. "Hullo, Professor."

"Have you finished packing all your things?"

Looking down at the trunk she was currently sitting on, Aster nodded her head. "Yes, Sir."

"And your owl?" he asked, looking around for the large storm colored owl. "Is he ready to go as well?"

"I sent Frost to Fred and George already," Aster assured Professor Dumbledore. "Once I got your letter, I thought it would be best to just have him fly there."

"Ahh," Professor Dumbledore grinned. His hands ran through his long white beard while his constantly twinkling blue eyes stared down at her. "Very well then. Are you ready to go? Molly is currently setting up a bedroom for you."

Blushing at the idea of staying with Fred and George's family for two weeks, Aster nodded her head. "I told Mrs. Cole goodbye already, because she had to take Jennifer to the doctors. We can leave whenever you want to, Sir."

She didn't know why, but when Professor Dumbledore asked if anything exciting had happened to her during the holidays so far, Aster shook her head. The genius in her wanted to tell him that Sirius Black is an illegal Animagus and came to her earlier that morning, but the Black in her wanted to run into her uncle again. None of it made sense to her that's why… her dad was the evil one, not her uncle. It was her dad who worked with Voldemort, not Sirius. So what made Sirius dangerous enough to be put into Azkaban for twelve years, and why did he suddenly decide to escape after twelve years of being a prisoner? And why the hell didn't he attack her when he had the chance? If he was so dangerous he wouldn't have left when she warned him to, he wouldn't have curled his lips in a doggy smile or wag his tail when he saw she acknowledged him, nor would he have looked confused to see her.

Something inside of her told her not to mention Sirius… not now at least.

**I know some people don't like when OC's have too many tattoos, but I promise they all have a meaning to it. So please just give this entire story a chance before you judge it because of her appearance. I have a thing for details, so yeah… Also, the chapters get so much longer. Next chapter is 11 pages long!**

**Please review! I want to know what you guys think of it so far. This is my first time really focusing on the twins only, and using Regulus at all. If there's any mistakes you see, just let me know and I'll fix it up. I'm really eager to post this whole story up, and see what you all think of it. It'll get more interesting over time – this one was mostly just introducing Aster. **


	2. The Burrow

**Woohoo I got 3 reviews and 6 followers, so thanks guys!(: I'm happy to hear that those of you who reviewed weren't put off by Aster's appearance, and you're looking forward to seeing more, so here you guys go! I'm just as eager to post up more chapters as you are to read them(:**

The Burrow

"ASTER!"

Laughing as she was sandwiched between the twins, Aster wrapped her arms around them both. Lifting her head up from the two chests that were trying to pop said head, she grinned. "Hey, Gred, Forge!"

Most people had a hard time telling the two apart, but Aster spent enough time with them both to know who was who. Before Harry, Ron, and Hermione came along – _they_ were called the Golden Trio… well, not really; it was more like the Golden Box because Lee was always with them. But Lee could tell the twins apart too. It was the way they stood: George had a habit of leaning more on his right foot, while Fred leaned more on his left. And although most people claimed that the twins were identical in every way, Aster noticed that Fred's eyes were just a shade lighter than George's ocean blue. Today Fred was wearing a red shirt while George wore orange. She noticed that their hair seemed shaggier than usual too.

"Let the poor girl breathe," Mrs. Weasley tutted at her sons as they reluctantly pulled away from their best friend. Stepping in front of Aster, Mrs. Weasley pulled her into her own warm hug, "Hullo, dear."

"Hi, Mrs. Weasley," Aster smiled, allowing the motherly hug to engulf her. "Thank you for letting me stay here until school starts up again."

"Of course, dear, of course," Mrs. Weasley said, pulling away. Stepping back to get a better look at the girl she's met a handful of times, she shook her head at all the tattoos. "I see you got new ones."

Blushing shamefully, Aster nervously chuckled. "Well, Mrs. Cole wasn't in one day, and we have a new boy at the orphanage whose dad used to do tattoos. Jimmy's trying to learn, so I let him practice on me."

"You're already such a lovely girl," Mrs. Weasley frowned. "You don't need to be adding more things on you. Isn't that right, George?"

Fred snickered while George turned as red as his hair. "You're a girl?" he chose to say instead of whining that it wasn't fair that his mum turned to him instead of his twin; trying to keep up his joking attitude.

"What?" Aster gasped automatically flying her hands up to cup her slightly large sized breasts. "When did that happen? Mrs. Weasley, help me, I've turned into a girl."

Rolling her eyes, although she was smiling as well, Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at the trunk on the floor. "Fred, George, show Aster to her room. She'll be staying in Bill and Charlie's old room."

Following her best friends up the stairs, Aster looked around the place. This wasn't her first time coming to the Burrow. Her first time had been the summer before her second year when Mrs. Cole wanted her out of the orphanage because it was 'Family Day' which meant that couples were coming from all over the world look at the kids. Since it was known that she was a witch, Aster made it clear she didn't want to be adopted – not when she was different, and wouldn't be with the families anyway. Fred and George told their mum how Aster had nowhere to go, and Mrs. Weasley was kind enough to allow her to stay at their house until it was time to return to the orphanage. It became a sort of tradition of theirs since then. This was, however, the first time she would be staying with them for two weeks. Stopping at a door on the third floor, Aster followed the twins and her trunk into the room.

"This is where Bill and Charlie used to sleep," Fred started explaining to her. "Mum was originally planning on having you share with Ginny, but we might have-"

"-sort of, explained that you've never had your own room before," George sheepishly added. For some reason he couldn't look at Aster, and chose to stare at the pale blue walls instead.

"Ginny wanted to share with you but, because of our statement, Mum owled Bill and Charlie and they both agreed that you could have their room while you're here."

"Besides, Hermione is coming sometime next week and she would most likely love bunking with Ginny."

Aster rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest; not noticing the way that George glanced at it before blushing again. "You two only did this because you've always wanted to snoop around your brothers' room, but they always threatened you two."

"Maybe," Fred smirked.

"Honestly," Aster tried to keep a serious face, but after a couple of seconds, she began to smirk as well. "Shut the door. Fred, you take the drawers; George, you take the beds; and I'll search the closet."

Chuckling, Fred opened his arms widely. "And this is why we love you."

Still blushing, George tried to shake away his mum's words. Why in Merlin's left saggy bollock, did she have to point out the fact that Aster was a female? They all knew she was a girl. They took to protecting her in the same sense that they protected Ginny, and now even Hermione… but did his mum have to point out that she was attractive looking? Sure, he might have thought about it before, but why did his mum have to mention it? And why call his name instead of Fred's. Fred is her best friend too. Hearing Fred call his name, George saw the curious gaze in his twin's eyes, before blushing again. After a quick glance at Aster who was now digging through the closet as if searching for diamonds, Fred nodded his head in an understanding way then turned back to the dressers. Shaking away all thoughts, George realized that the two beds were pushed against the two walls on opposite ends of the room. That just won't do, he smirked to himself.

"Brilliant!" Aster exclaimed once she saw that George pushed the two beds together in the center of the room to make it bigger. "And we could totally just use the fact that I've never had a big bed before, if your mum or brothers get upset at us."

"Nothing," George sighed. He had been hoping that when he pushed the two beds together there would at least be a pile of things hidden under each one, but the floors were clean.

Using his wand to mesh the two separate sheets to make one giant sheet, and the same with the comforters, Fred shook his head. "The dressers were clean too; only pieces of clothes that they left behind."

"Same as the closet," throwing herself down onto the bed, Aster sighed. She felt Fred and George both drop on each side of her as well. "I guess they must have thought you two would come in here searching despite their threats."

"Bloody prats!" George muttered beneath his breath.

Giggling at George's statement, Aster stared up at the pale blue ceiling. "Why pale blue?"

"It was an agreement between them both," Fred explained. "Bill likes dark blue, but Charlie likes the color white."

"White isn't a color."

"And Black is?"

"That's a horrible joke, George. I'm ashamed."

Snickering, Fred continued. "So they both agreed on combining the two colors, and they got pale blue."

"It's making me nauseous."

"Hold on," George said. Sitting up, he shouted, "MUM!"

After a short pause, the door opened up and Mrs. Weasley poked her head inside, "What is it, George? I'm trying to make lunch."

"The color of the room is making Aster nauseous. Can she change the walls for as long as she's here?" Fred asked.

Pouting her lips in a sympathetic way, Mrs. Weasley nodded her head. "Of course you can, dear. And I like what you did with the beds. Although a young lady doesn't belong lying between two males," she added as a side note, before turning and leaving.

The twins lifted their heads to stare at each other, while an open mouthed Aster continued to stare at the where the woman just left. After a couple of silent moments they all started to erupt into loud laughter. Aster used her wand to turn the pale blue walls into a light purple color while the twins rolled their eyes at her color choice. They should have known. Leaving the Quidditch posters hanging up where they were, Aster started to unpack her trunk; not wanting to live out of it for the next two weeks. It was a habit she had even at the orphanage. Fred and George both sat on the bed, watching her unpack and telling her all about their summer in Egypt, and pointing out how lucky she was that they just returned the night before.

Listening to them explain how lucky she was that they were actually home to invite her over, Aster suddenly remembered her reason for being there. Shutting the bedroom door once more, she stopped unpacking and moved to sit between them on the bed. "About that," she whispered, "Do you guys know why I'm here?"

"Dad came home last night and said something about somebody breaking out of Azkaban," George shrugged his shoulders, "Then Professor Dumbledore came over-"

"-but Mum kicked us out of the kitchen. Then this morning, Mum told us that you were coming to stay with us until school starts," Fred finished.

"So you guys don't know who escaped Azkaban then?" when they both shook their heads, Aster leaned in and softly said, "Sirius Black."

Fred and George both dropped their jaws. "What?"

"Professor Dumbledore told me that Sirius Black is a dangerous wizard, and that he knows the name of the orphanage I was placed into when he denied me, which is why they needed to get me out of there," Aster quietly explained.

"So, your uncle is probably out to kill you?" Fred questioned.

George ran his hands through his hair. "Bloody hell, Aster!"

Aster was proud to see the worry in her best friends' eyes as she told them about what Professor Dumbledore said. Everyone in Hogwarts knew she was the daughter of a Death Eater, because of her name, and they knew she was Draco's cousin because he tried to approach her one day, but it was only the purebloods or the half-bloods that were raised in the wizarding world who knew about her prisoner uncle. Fred, George, and Lee were the first three who didn't judge her because of it though. They met on the train ride to school in their first year, and they've been best friends ever since… which is why she told them the next part… "But there's more. You two have to promise me you won't tell anyone."

"What about Lee?"

Rolling her eyes at Fred's question, Aster said, "We'll tell him once we see him, but I mean nobody aside from our little box. You have to promise me!"

"I solemnly swear!" both brothers said instantly, while holding their wands in the air. It was their way of making a pinky promise. There was no Unbreakable Vow involved, but in their hearts it was just as deadly as the actual Unbreakable Vow… without actually being deadly.

Smiling at their secret vow, Aster told the twins everything. "I was pushing Lila, one of the kids at the orphanage, on the swings, when she pointed at a large black dog. It looked a bit like the grim."

"That isn't good," George interrupted, "Our uncle Bilius saw a grim once, and he died the next day. The grim is an omen, Aster."

"I know what a grim is, you bloody wanker," she told him. "But it wasn't a grim. That's the thing. It was an Animagus."

Fred gasped. "Are you sure?"

"I could smell the wizard blood in him," Aster nodded her head. "You know how it is when you guys can smell me or Lee?" when they both nodded their heads, she continued, "It was like that. I knew he was an Animagus, and not a large black dog."

"Which means he's un-registered," George said more to himself than out loud. "I don't remember seeing a large grim-like dog in the book of registered Animagis."

"Me neither," Fred added. "But how could you sense him? We can't even sense McGonagall, and we were with her every day."

"I don't know," Aster admitted with a shoulder shrug, "But it was an Animagus. But guys, that's not it. I approached him; telling him to leave, and he seemed shocked that I knew what he was."

"Which means he couldn't sense you…"

"Exactly."

"So, if he didn't end up outside the orphanage because he could sense another Animagus, what the hell was he doing there?"

"I think it was Sirius Black."

"What?"

"Blimey!"

"Are you sure?"

"Why didn't you tell Professor Dumbledore, or Mum?"

"Wait – why are you still alive, then?"

"That's my point," Aster sighed, relieved that George at least caught on to what she was saying. "It was weird, but when I approached him he seemed shocked. But then when I kept talking, you could see the sort of… err… pride, I guess? But then I threatened him. I threatened to turn him into Professor Dumbledore for being an illegal Animagus, and I told him to either turn himself so I could see who he was or to leave, and he left before I reached the count of three. If he wanted to kill me, why didn't he just do it? I didn't even have my wand on me, and I'm sure he knew that."

Fred tapped a finger against his chin, while George tried not to think too much about the fact that Aster was alone with a serial killer. "What makes you think it was Sirius Black?" he finally asked her.

"I…" she tried to think. Why did she think it was her uncle outside of the gate that morning? "I don't know," Aster sighed, "I mean, I didn't think it at first. I thought it was just a random wizard in the beginning, but then I got Professor Dumbledore's letter and it sort of all made sense afterwards. Sirius just escaped Azkaban, and nobody can find him or figure out how he did it; he knows the name of the orphanage I was taken to, and he's most likely going to hunt me down; and then there's a strange Animagus outside of the orphanage, watching me?"

George sighed and rubbed his face. "It makes sense."

"It does," Fred agreed, "So what do we do about it?"

After half an hour of trying to figure out what they could do with their new information, the twins and Aster ran downstairs for lunch. As both Fred and George teased Ron for gawking at their houseguest, like he always does, Aster waved politely at Ron but sat far away from him. The younger boy took to staring at her the way that Ginny took to staring at Harry. Unlike Harry though, Aster thought it was creepy instead of amusing. Snickering when she saw that Percy came bumbling down the stairs with his new Head Boy badge pinned to the front of his shirt, Aster piled her plate high with sandwiches. That was one of the things that made her and the twins perfect for each other – she had an appetite to match the Weasley males. She always blamed it on the fact that growing up in an orphanage limited her meals, but Lee teased her that it was because she seemed to be the triplet to the twins. Whereas Lee was constantly getting into trouble with them, it was Aster who stuck to them like glue.

"Hullo, Aster," Percy greeted in his most 'important' voice.

Flashing a smile, Aster nodded her head at him. "Hullo, Percy. I see you've made Head Boy this year. Congratulations!"

"Noooooo…" George cried out.

"Why would you get him started?" Fred whined into his own ham sandwich.

"Boys!" Mrs. Weasley hissed at them, "That is enough. Now, your brother is very proud of his accomplishment."

"I'm the first Head Boy in the Weasley family since Bill," Percy proudly announced to Aster.

"Wow," she said, feigning interest. "Congratulations."

"And I should be congratulating you," he said. Not noticing the way the twins frowned suspiciously at Aster who was now furiously shaking her head in his direction, Percy continued on, "I must admit I was shocked when I received the letter stating that you were made as Gryffindor's fifth year Prefect, but I-"

"You WHAT?!" both twins shouted at the same time.

Ron dropped the bite of turkey sandwich he was just about to take, and Ginny was squealing in excitement for Aster, but the said girl only glared at the curly red-haired boy she was plotting to kill in his sleep. "I knew you two would never let me hear the end of it," she sighed to the betrayed looking twins. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal?" Percy sounded as if Aster just personally shot him in the face with an arrow. "Being made Prefect is a tremendous honor, and I don't know why Professor Dumbledore thoughtthat _you_ of all people could hold the responsibilities, but-"

"Oi!" Fred glared at his older brother.

"Aster happens to be the top in our year," George added. "The top in our whole school, actually."

"Besides Hermione," Ron quickly added. "Aster is only a couple of marks behind Hermione."

"The point is," Fred glared at Ron for ruining their argument, "That Aster is the highest in our classes, and she hardly gets into much trouble anymore-"

"Yeah," George was still scowling at Percy, who was now trying to hide behind his cup of tea, "And she's more responsible than you are Percy. If a big headed prat like you can be a Prefect… then this job will be a piece of cake for our Aster."

"Boys!" Mrs. Weasley hissed at them again, before turning to her now red-faced son, "And honestly Percy, have some manners. I think that Aster is a wonderful choice for Prefect. We must celebrate."

"Oh no," Aster quickly turned to the matriarch who was now searching through the cabinets and muttering beneath her breath about cakes. "It really isn't that big of a deal, Mrs. Weasley. You mustn't go out of your way."

"Quiet!" Fred glared at her. "If Mum wants to bake a cake, then let her."

Giggling into her hands, Ginny looked up at Aster. "Why aren't you wearing your badge like Percy is?"

"Because she's not a git…" George muttered.

Snorting at George's response, Aster looked down at Ginny. "Err… I'm not stuck up enough to show off how important I am."

Ron snorted, causing tea to fly out of his nose, and Percy huffed in response. "Aster…"

"Sorry Mrs. Weasley," Aster grinned. Once Mrs. Weasley's back was turned to her again, she bumped her knuckles with Ginny's.

Percy ended up leaving the table to finish his lunch up in his room, and the twins started to pick on Ron for being weird; which left Aster and Ginny sort of alone. When Aster first started coming around the Weasley family, Ginny was only seven years old so she sort of took to the youngest Weasley like a sister; and she still did. The twins were extremely protective of the young girl, and Aster felt the same. She tried to look out for Ron as well, but it was hard to when his best friend was Harry Potter. She did have some sort of role for Hermione though – the younger witch took to her like an older sister. Hermione was an only child in the muggle world, and Aster grew up in an orphanage in the muggle world. They were both thrust into the magical world at only eleven years old, and they were both sort of forced to grow up at a young age. Hermione was constantly getting into trouble with the boys, and Aster had to defend herself for being a Black. Nobody cared that she didn't know anybody in her family – her dad was a Death Eater, so she obviously was going to become one as well.

Eating her lunch, Aster watched the way Ginny twitched at certain words. She felt bad for the young girl. Ginny only just started at Hogwarts, and she was already possessed by a diary. She and the twins tried to figure out was wrong with Ginny when she became paler than usual and her usually bright red hair sort of darkened, but it was only when Harry saved her from the Chamber of Secrets, did they learn the truth. She remembered the way the twins both cried when they found out what their baby sister had been put through, and even more so they all became determined to protect her. After all, she was the baby of the family.

"Hey, Mum," Ginny suddenly said, "When are we going to get our books for school?"

"Sometime this week," Mrs. Weasley replied; flipping the pages of a baking book. "Your father is going to try to take off from work to go with us."

"Hey, Gin," Aster said, "There's this new girl at the orphanage and her name is Ginerva."

Shuddering in disgust, Ginny frowned. "That poor child. I hope you changed her name for her."

"She prefers to be called Ginger," when everyone at the table gave her odd looks, Aster shrugged her shoulders. "She's blonde. So anyway, she's about nine years old and she couldn't sleep one night. So I decided to tell her a story."

Ginny's eyes widened in excitement, "Did you tell her Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump?"

"Err…"

"Or was it The Warlock's Hairy Heart?" questioned an eager Ron. Seeing the weird looks he was getting, he shrugged his shoulders, "I like that his heart is covered in hair and locked inside the dungeons."

"Erm… right…" shaking away the mental image that Ron just supplied her with, Aster looked back at Ginny. "No. I told her all about witches and wizards. Of course though, she thinks it's all just a fairytale, but I used you as the main person in the story."

Ginny's eyes lit up. "Really?" Aster nodded her head. "What did you tell her?"

"Well, once upon a time there was little girl named Ginny. She had long red hair, and big brown eyes, and freckles that covered most of her face. Ginny had six brothers, and she was the youngest. There was William who worked with mummies and goblins, there was Charles who worked with dragons, Periwinkle was once a boy but turned into a pig who could only say words that started with the letter P-" the twins and Ron started to laugh, and from the side of them they could hear a light chuckle coming from Mrs. Weasley as well, "Then there were the twins, Fredrick and Georgie Porgie (George snarled while Fred cackled) who were the clowns of their village, and then there was Ronald; the brother right above her."

"Georgie Porgie," George muttered.

"At least you're not Periwinkle the pig who can only say words with the letter P," Mrs. Weasley pointed out.

Sticking her tongue out at George, Aster continued. "One day, Ginny was at home with Ronald, Georgie Porgie, and Fredrick, and Periwinkle was up in his room rolling around in mud. Ronald was complaining that he was hungry, and the twins were trying to find a way to ensure that Ronald could never taste food again-"

"Oi!" Ron gasped in fear as his brothers immediately started to whisper with one another.

"-and Ginny was anxiously waiting for her parents to come home. You see, Ginny's family had a secret."

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"They're witches and wizards!"

"You don't say," snorted Fred.

Aster glared at him. "The muggles don't know the stories are true," she reminded him. "And Ginger likes to hear stories about witches, so I figured to throw it in there."

"Sorry," he smirked. "Please continue…"

After a few more seconds of glaring at Fred, Aster looked back at Ginny. "Anyway… so Ginny was a witch. And she was the last one of her family to receive her magic, because it only came to them on their eleventh birthdays, and this – well, this was Ginny's eleventh birthday. So she was waiting for her parents to come home so they could go to Triangle Park where Ginny would receive her wand."

"Triangle Park?" snickered George.

"Shut it, Georgie Porgie," Ginny shouted at him, "I want to hear if I get my magical wand or not."

Laughing at the way Ginny shouted at his twin, Fred rolled his eyes, "Sorry to spoil it for you, Gin, but you do."

"Fredrick, Georgie Porgie!" Mrs. Weasley tried to scold them with a straight face, but the amusement shone in her eyes. "Hush up, and let Aster finish her story."

With tears in her eyes, Ginny jumped up from the table. "I don't want to hear it anymore. They ruined it for me. They spoiled the ending!"

With shamed looks, both Fred and George stood up from the table and ran after their sister who just ran out of the kitchen. "Hmm," Mrs. Weasley mused, "I haven't seen her pull the fake tears in three years."

"I remember the last time I saw her use it was when Charles wouldn't take her to Diagon Alley with him to meet his friends," Aster smirked. "Wasn't that the day that she came home from Diagon Alley with half of the sweetshop in her pockets?"

"Those tears always work," Ron sighed, shaking his head. The last time Ginny used those tears on him, he ended up giving her his last chocolate frog.

Mr. Weasley came home from work to find Aster using Charlie's old broom in a game of Quidditch. She and Ron had been placed against the twins, while Ginny helped her mum make the dinner. It wasn't that Mrs. Weasley needed the help, but Ginny mostly just wanted to eat the cake when her mum wasn't looking. After kissing his wife hullo, and helping Ginny sneak some of the frosting, Mr. Weasley walked outside to watch the Quidditch match for a while. He knew that his sons were brilliant Beaters on the Gryffindor team, but by the looks of it, Aster seemed to be beating them. Fred and George looked as if they were putting their all into the game, and Aster looked as if she were just casually toying with them, while Ron blocked all of their hits. It was obvious who was winning, even if the twins were to miraculously catch the snitch.

"Aster!" Mr. Weasley suddenly called out.

Pausing the game, Aster swooped down to Mr. Weasley. Still hanging a bit in the air, she smiled. "Yes, Mr. Weasley?"

"I need to talk to you for a bit," he told her. Looking past her confused face, he shouted at his sons to get ready for dinner, then he motioned for Aster to follow him towards the chicken coop. "Do you know why you're here, Aster?"

"Because my uncle escaped from Azkaban, and he's dangerous," she replied. Aster was confused. What was he trying to ask her?

"Yes… sort of…" sighing, Mr. Weasley ran a hand through his balding hair while helping chain up the Quidditch equipment. "Do you know why Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban?" when Aster shook her head, he said in a low voice, "Most people wouldn't want you to know this, but I feel that it's prudent you know the truth, Aster. Sirius was a follower of You-Know-Who. Everyone thought that he was on the light's side because he was placed into Gryffindor, and that-"

"But he hated my dad because my dad was a Death Eater," she interrupted. Scratching her arm – something she did when she was nervous – Aster said, "When Professor Dumbledore first approached me the week before my eleventh birthday he told me that when my dad died the Minister tried to give me to my uncle, but that he didn't want anything to do with me because he hated my dad for being a Death Eater."

"That's what we heard as well," Mr. Weasley sighed. Rubbing the balding spot on his head, he had a hard time looking into the pained face of the girl he took like a daughter, "But it was all just an act. Sirius was best friends with James Potter, and when James and Lily found out that You-Know-Who was going after them, they went into hiding. Sirius was placed as their secret keeper, but…"

Aster had fresh tears in her eyes while her mind pieced everything together before Mr. Weasley finished explaining it to her. "My uncle is the one who betrayed the Potters," she whispered in a low tone, "It's my uncle's fault that Harry's parents were killed."

"Try not to look at it like that, Aster. It isn't your fault that Sirius turned against his best friends. He fooled all of us. No one would have believed he was evil."

Using her hands to wipe away her tears, Aster stared at the ground. "Does Harry know?" she asked. "Does he know that my uncle is the reason his parents are dead?"

"No," Mr. Weasley sighed. "And he mustn't know. It would kill him."

Aster nodded her head in agreement. "Professor Dumbledore warned me that Sirius Black would be trying to kill me," she finally looked up and saw the weariness in the man's eyes. "Does this mean that he's going to try to kill Harry as well?"

"The Minister is more concerned about Harry than you at the moment. It seems that the Minister overheard him muttering something about 'he's at Hogwarts,' so we feel that 'he' means Harry."

"Then do all that you can to protect Harry."

"It doesn't mean that he won't come after you," Mr. Weasley sighed. "We don't know why he turned you away all those years ago, Aster, but we feel that he'll want you now."

Feeling her eyes darken while her blood pumped, Aster shook her head. "I'll be fine Mr. Weasley. If he turned the Potters in to Voldemort all those years ago, then he'll be wanting revenge on the one person who got in their way. If it's true and he was a spy for Voldemort, then he turned me away just to keep his pretenses. If anything he probably only wants to bring me into the Death Eaters," seeing the hesitation in Mr. Weasley's face, Aster softly smiled at him. "I'm not daft, Mr. Weasley, I would never go over to the dark side. But if I'm correct, then I'm safe for now. You and the rest of the adults just need to focus on protecting Harry."

Dinner was tense. Mrs. Weasley kept looking between her pale husband and the girl who wasn't eating. Aster tried to pretend that she was alright, but nobody believed her when she didn't bother to touch her food. Percy felt guilty for being a prat earlier in the day and tried to talk to her about the duties of being a Prefect, but nothing worked. Even when the twins managed to turn Ron blonde, Aster didn't even curl her lips into a slight chuckle. Suddenly feeling tired, Aster stood up and quietly excused herself then went back upstairs to the room she would be living in for the next two weeks.

Growing up in an orphanage, you get used to living in different places for short periods of time. The bed that you fall asleep in won't always be the bed you wake up in, and the house you call a home could be gone before bedtime. It was a tiring life, but it was the one thing that Aster loved Hogwarts for – nothing changed. Sure, they moved up to a new room each year, but she still had the same professors, the same lessons, the same friends, and the same colors. Hogwarts had a routine; one that she always believed would be there for her, but now… now, everything was going to change for her.

"Aster?"

Not bothering to lift her head up when she heard the door open, Aster wiped away her tears. "I'm fine, Fred."

There was the soft click to prove the door was shut, and then there was the soft padding of footsteps making their way across the room. "We heard Mum asking Dad what happened," George said from the side of her.

"He said something about the Minister," Fred added.

"What did Dad talk to you about?"

Sniffling, Aster didn't know when she started to cry. She could have sworn her eyes were dry when she came upstairs, but now everything was drenched in tears. Sitting up on the bed so she could lean against the wall, Aster shook her head at George. "Do you know why Sirius Black went to Azkaban?"

"You know we don't," then Fred gasped. "Did he kill your dad?"

"Oh, you mean the Death Eater brother that he pretended to hate so much?" Aster scoffed. Using the back of her hand so she could wipe away her remaining tears, Aster chose to stare at George instead of Fred. "Sirius Black betrayed the Potters to Voldemort. He was sentenced to Azkaban because he was the secret keeper to where the Potters were living, and because the day after the Potters were killed he was confronted by his other best friend Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius ended up killing Peter right in the middle of the day," George's arms were instantly wrapped around her, and Aster found herself breathing in the grassy scent of his shirt. When Fred's hand grabbed her hand in a comforting way, she heard herself bitterly saying, "Oh yeah, and he killed thirteen muggles that same day. When the Ministry found him he was laughing like a mad man."

Fred's eyes met George's, and they both nodded in unison. They wouldn't let Sirius Black anywhere near their best friend. "Don't worry, Aster," Fred told her, "We won't let him get you."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Aster shook her head. Pulling her face away from George's chest, but still allowing his arms to keep her feeling safe and protected, Aster looked at Fred. "Your dad told me that the Minister heard Sirius talking about finding Harry. He kept muttering 'he's at Hogwarts,' it isn't me he wants. He wants Harry. He wants revenge because Harry destroyed his precious master. We need to protect Harry."

Fred was scowling now. "The Ministry will protect Harry enough. Let me guess – the Minister isn't even worried about you!"

"I'm not a 'he,'" Aster shook her head. "I'm fine Fred, it's Harry who's not."

"Harry will be fine," George argued. "That's so bloody typical of the Ministry. It's like just because you're the daughter of a Death Eater they feel they don't need to protect you from another bloody Death Eater."

"And it's not like Harry knows anything," Fred scoffed. "He doesn't have to worry about looking over his shoulders every bloody second."

Shaking her head, Aster dropped her voice so low that Fred had to place his head against hers just so he could hear what she was saying. "But the Ministry doesn't know that he's an illegal Animagus."

George gasped. "That's right."

"He doesn't want to kill me. He wants to make me just like him. He wants to turn me into a Death Eater like him and my dad."

Fred started to shake his head. "That's why Dumbledore wants you with us. The Ministry probably wants to arrest you."

"They fear that Sirius is going to get to me, and that I'll end up killing Harry."

George opened his mouth to most likely curse the entire Ministry, but he was cut off when his mum opened the door. Looking at the scene on the bed, Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat. It was obvious by the look on her face that her husband just filled her in on everything that he told the young with and Mrs. Weasley was now beyond livid. Telling her sons to leave her and Aster alone, Mrs. Weasley locked the bedroom door behind her then placed a silencing spell on it. Once she reached the bed she had her arms wrapped tightly around the stunned girl. This was one thing Aster loved so much about Fred and George's family – they were a family!

"I'm not going to hurt Harry, Mrs. Weasley."

"Of course you aren't, dear."

"Mr. Weasley didn't tell me everything, but I know what the Ministry is thinking. They want to arrest me before Sirius can find me."

Sighing, Mrs. Weasley pulled away from Aster. "You really are too smart for your own good," when Aster responded with only a smile, Mrs. Weasley slightly smiled back. "Albus and Arthur fought for you; along with a few other people on our side. They won't arrest you, Aster."

"But they want to."

"Albus has promised to keep a close eye on you at Hogwarts this year," Mrs. Weasley nodded her head. "The Minister is just under a lot of pressure this year. This is the first breakout that Azkaban has ever had, and seeing as how the escapee has ties to both you and Harry, he's just scared."

"I look at Harry like a little fragile brother. I'm not going to hurt him."

"We know that, dear. We know you wouldn't hurt anyone."

"What would the Ministry do if they caught Sirius?" Aster suddenly asked the woman she took like a mother. "Would they send him back to Azkaban?"

Mrs. Weasley shook her head and sighed. "He would only find a way to escape again, wouldn't he? They would give him the Dementors' kiss."

"And once he's been kissed he could never talk again, right?"

"Of course not. Once you've been kissed by a Dementor you lose your soul. Your body still lives, but you're unable to think, move, or do anything; you're forced to constantly live the rest of your life haunted by your own memories," Mrs. Weasley shuddered, "It's a life I wouldn't wish even on him."

Aster nodded her head in agreement. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."

"For what, dear?"

"For letting me stay here every summer," she blushed. "And for letting me stay here now. I know it isn't easy to house the daughter of a Death Eater."

Instantly shaking her head, Mrs. Weasley pulled Aster into another tight embrace. "Don't talk like that, love. Of course you're welcome here. I only wish I could adopt you so you wouldn't have to go back to that awful orphanage, but Albus won't allow it," sighing, Mrs. Weasley finally stood up. "Go to sleep, dear. You've had a long day."

Aster laid in her bed, confused. There were so many thoughts in her mind. She needed to find Sirius Black before the Ministry did. If they found him, they would have his soul sucked out and she would never get the answers that she needed. She needs to know why he didn't want her. Why did he pretend to hate his brother for so long if he was on the same team as him? Why turn away a one year old baby girl when his brother requested he take care of her? Why turn against your best friend, and then openly kill another? Why is he trying to kill Harry? Why didn't he hurt her that day at the orphanage? How did he manage to escape Azkaban? Why did he side with Voldemort? What was her dad like?

There were so many questions that Aster had for the man who killed her friend's parents, but one thought was even stronger than that. If Peter Pettigrew was dead, why was his name on the Marauders Map for the past two years?

**So yayy for long chapters? What do you guys think about her relationship with the twins, Mrs. Weasley, Ginny? Her and Percy? Ron's blushing around her? Please review! I really want to know your honest opinions on this story, especially since I'm focusing more on the twins and this OC than the original golden trio.**


	3. Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

"Mum says we've got to hurry," George announced, entering the bedroom without knocking.

"George!" Aster hissed, quickly yanking a shirt off of the bed so she could cover her chest with it. "I'm changing."

"I can see that," stammered a scarlet colored George, "I'll just – erm, well, I'll just be downstairs then."

Feeling her cheeks burning, Aster rushed to pull the beige colored spaghetti strap on over the black bra that one of her best friend's had just seen her in. Hanging out with the boys from when she was only eleven, Aster was used to jogging with them in early mornings with a sports bra on, and she was constantly swimming in the black lake or even the little pond by their house with them, and there was even that one time when a prank gone wrong exploded in their faces and she quickly tore off her shirt and shorts before it could get stuck to her skin – leaving her only in her bra and knickers – but those were moments when she chose to hardly be dressed around them. This time was different – this time she was changing her clothes when George saw her in her bra. Neither of them had been prepared for it. Still blushing at the idea that George saw her in her bra, Aster started to brush out her hair.

It's been two weeks since she came to the Burrow, and she and the twins thought about it every day for the first week, but they sort of gave up on plotting on how to catch Sirius Black. So they started to play Quidditch, and made sure to get on Percy's nerves all the time. They even took to pranking Ron, but when Hermione showed up three days ago they figured it would be in their personal best interest to stop before she hexed them. Hermione and Ron seemed to constantly be locked up on their own anyway; always whispering about Harry, and questioning when they were going to see him again. Mr. Weasley came home from the Ministry the night before Hermione showed up, and he told all of them that Harry blew up his aunt. They knew that Harry was currently living at The Leaky Cauldron, but only the adults, twins, and Aster knew why the Minister of Magic was so hell-bent on keeping Harry where he could keep an eye on him. Hermione, Ron, and even Ginny were constantly pestering Mrs. Weasley to know why Harry couldn't stay with them, but the stern witch never gave in.

So today was the day – the day that they finally get to go to Diagon Alley and meet up with Harry. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley chose this day specifically because it's the day before they all leave for Hogwarts, and the Ministry won't be able to blame Aster for anything that goes wrong. The Ministry apparently wanted her soul just as much as they wanted her uncle's. Making sure that she had all of her things packed neatly inside of her trunk, Aster stuck her wand in her bra, her school list in the back of her pocket, and she made sure she had her bag filled with money inside of her bra as well – she needed to stop at Gringotts to pick up more galleons. Double checking to make sure everything was where it should be, Aster quickly made her way downstairs with her trunk.

"You got everything, dear?"

Nodding her head at Mrs. Weasley, who was just fastening the cloak around her own neck, Aster smiled. "Yes, Mrs. Weasley."

"Perfect. C'mon now, Arthur is already on the other end with Ginny and Hermione. You next."

Nodding her head, Aster avoided George as she walked past him and stepped into the fireplace. "The Leaky Cauldron."

"Aster," Mr. Weasley grinned, helping her get out of the way before anyone else came through, "Molly's coming through with the trunks, I presume?"

Aster nodded her head, "I think she's shrinking them so she can carry it herself."

One by one, red hair began to tumble its way out of the floo, but Aster made sure to avoid the identical boys who tried their hardest to find her. Being quick to accept her shrunken trunk from Mrs. Weasley, Aster grabbed onto both Hermione and Ginny, then shouted that she was going up to their room already so they could get settled in. Seeing as how they were going to spend the night in the pub, Mrs. Weasley announced that Aster would share a room with Hermione and Ginny, Ron would share with Percy, and the twins would have their own room. Once they settled into their room though, Aster realized she would have to face her friends eventually.

"There you are," Fred grinned, quickly claiming Aster with one arm as she reached the final stair. "Someone might think you're avoiding us."

Clearing his throat, George was scarlet colored once again, and he sheepishly kicked at the ground. "Sorry, Aster, for earlier."

Nodding her head, she tried not to turn as red as him. "Just knock next time."

"Yeah, Forge," Fred rolled his eyes, "Just knock next time," then his eyes bulged. "Wait, what?"

Realizing that George didn't tell his twin about earlier, Aster spotted the adults. "Mrs. Weasley!" she shouted, "We're going to get our things now. What time do you want us to be back?"

"Before nightfall!" Mrs. Weasley replied with a shout before turning back to talk to Mr. Weasley some more. It looked like they were arguing about something.

"C'mon then," Aster tugged at both Fred and George, trying to stop Fred from pestering his twin to find out what Aster meant when she told him to just knock the next time, "I need to stop at Gringotts before we go anywhere else."

Gringotts was once an awkward topic for Aster when it came to her new family, but she soon learned that the twins were so used to her and her riches, that they didn't let it bother them. Since she spent her summers in Diagon Alley with Mrs. Cole, she would usually have her money already in her pouch before she met up with the twins and Lee, but this was the first time she would go into her vault with the twins. The Black vault was a vault that the Weasley twins never imagined themselves entering, and when they saw the floors covered in mountains of gold, while the walls were lined up with jewels, crowns, silver, more gold, and even books; they started to drool at the mouth. Laughing at their reaction, Aster threw a handful of galleons at each of them and told them to grab a pouch with the Black crest for themselves; it's not like she had a need for fifty of them. After filling her own powder blue pouch up with more than enough money to last her the entire year, Aster watched with amusement as the brothers picked identical silver colored pouches, and threw the handful that she tossed at them inside of it. The twins once detested accepting things from her, but now it came like second nature as they searched the vault for treasure to claim as their own. Spotting a deep yellow colored bag on the floor, Aster grinned and filled it with galleons as well – now Lee could match all of them with his own Black crested pouch. She laughed at the idea of her ancestors and father all rolling in their graves; cursing the day she was born.

"I want to live in there for eternity!" Fred exclaimed as they left Gringotts. "It was so beautiful."

"I didn't know you had everything in there," George told Aster.

Shrugging her shoulders, Aster placed Lee's pouch next to her own inside of her bra. "When Professor Dumbledore brought me here for the first time, the goblin with us explained that when my dad died all of his things were placed into his vault. Well, at least the things that my grandmother allowed out of the Black Manor. Professor Dumbledore assured me that nothing in there is cursed. Everything is pure as a whistle."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Pure as a virgin?"

Fred smirked, while George rolled his eyes. "I think we damaged you."

Laughing, Aster shrugged her shoulders. "At least you understand me now."

Playing with the pouch in his hands, George looked at Fred. "I feel like a pureblood now, Gred."

"Me too, Forge," Fred smirked. "I think we Weasleys should make pouches with our own family crest on it."

"We can make it all fancy as well."

"Your mum would love that for Christmas," Aster gasped with delight. "I can ask one of the goblins at Gringotts if they know if I have any pouches inside my vault that doesn't have the Black crest on it."

"I think it would be even greater knowing that the pouches that once belonged to the noble family of Blacks will soon have the Weasley family crest engraved into it," George grinned with excitement.

"You really are Daddy's little rebel, aren't you?" Fred grinned, pulling Aster closer into him.

"What can I say," she feigned innocence by placing both hands underneath her chin, and fluttering her eyelashes. "I am a Black after all."

Forgetting all about the embarrassing incident that took place that morning, Aster and the twins soon had bags filled with the books they needed for school, and pockets filled with fresh items from the joke shop. Claiming that she needed a new quill and inkwell because her old one was drying out, and tearing, Aster left her bags with the twins while she entered the shop on her own. She expected to see people she knew from Hogwarts, but she wasn't expecting to see Draco Malfoy standing with his mum at the counter.

Trying to avoid them while picking out an eagle feathered quill, and two inkwells, Aster soon heard her name being called. Turning around, she found herself face to face with her dad's cousin. "Hullo," she said politely.

Narcissa Malfoy was always beautiful in Aster's mind; at least from the pictures that she'd seen in her dad's old photo albums when she quickly scanned through them. Narcissa had the Blacks' pale skin, and a tall slender figure with slight curves. Her eyes were as grey as her son's, and her smile just as cold, but it was her hair that separated her from the Blacks. Whereas all the Blacks that Aster had heard about had black hair, Narcissa's hair was as blonde as her husband and son's. "Aster," Narcissa greeted her as kindly as possible for a Black-Malfoy, "The last I saw you in person you were only a year old. You have grown to be very beautiful."

"Thank you," Aster knew not to let her guard down. Blacks were known to be as cold as ice, and Narcissa was also a Malfoy.

"I wasn't expecting to see you out by yourself," Narcissa's tone was still as kind as it could be, and her eyes began to dart around the shop; searching for someone that Aster could be with.

"I'm not," the young girl assured the older woman, "My friends are outside waiting for me right now. I only needed to run in to quickly grab a quill and inkwell."

"I'm not talking about school kids," Narcissa said with a slight sneer. "I meant adults. I didn't think they would allow you out of their sights. You _are _staying with the Weasleys are you not?" when Aster confusedly nodded her head, Narcissa huffed out, "They know how dangerous it is for you to be on your own. Lucius works at the Ministry, so I know Arthur Weasley knows the truth of the situation. You, Aster, need to not be wandering around Diagon Alley without Molly or Arthur by your side. They, at least, are able to keep you safe."

Confused about the concern that seemed to be coming from the woman she had never met before, Aster nervously began to scratch at her arm again. "Thank you for your concern Mrs. Malfoy, but I assure you-"

"Hmph!" Narcissa stuck her nose up in the air at the name from the young girl, and she scowled down at her. "I used to watch you for Regulus, Aster, I am more than just Mrs. Malfoy to you. I am your father's cousin. And stop scratching your arm; I'm not going to hurt you, girl. Just like your father, he used to scratch his arm when he was nervous as well. And yes, I'm sure you are fine, but nonetheless it's foolish of you to walk around on your own without Molly or Arthur protecting you. I never thought of Sirius as unstable when we were children, but it's those kind who turn at last minute that you always need to watch out for. He never got along with your father, and you look just like Regulus, so you need to be careful."

Aster didn't know what to say. Did Narcissa Malfoy just somehow admit that she was worried for the young Death Eater's daughter? She chose to focus on something else though; something else that she just heard. "You used to watch me?"

"Yes. Regulus was my first cousin, and he was six years younger than me. I must admit I was shocked when I learned he had a child at such a young age, but he and I were always close, and there were moments when he needed me to watch you for him."

"Then," biting on her bottom lip, Aster nervously glanced behind to make sure the twins were still outside, "Then why didn't you take me after he died?"

Draco made an odd sound with his throat, and Narcissa's cold face seemed to drop for a few seconds. "Regulus had a will written out," she announced after clearing her throat, "If Sirius wasn't to take you in, then you would be placed in an orphanage."

"Oh," lowering her gaze, Aster tried to picture the woman she'd learned to hate through stories, singing her to sleep at night. She always had a fantasy of a woman singing her to sleep every night when she was fussy. Finally meeting her eyes with Narcissa's once more, Aster cleared her own throat. "It was nice to meet you, Mrs.-"

"Narcissa," the woman scowled, "Call me Narcissa."

Aster nodded her head. "It was nice to meet you Narcissa."

"It was nice seeing you as well," Narcissa nodded her own head. "Draco's told me that he sees you around school, but that you two hardly speak with each other."

Draco blushed, but Aster didn't pay any attention to it. "No offense, but I'm already having a hard time trying to prove to everybody that I'm _not_ a Death Eater like the father I've never met before, and I don't really care for people who tell my friends that it's a good thing their parents have been killed, or who goes around calling people a Mudblood all day," seeing the sudden fear in Draco's eyes while Narcissa's beautiful face turned sour, Aster realized that the older witch didn't know how her son acted in school while she wasn't around. "I know that we're cousins because Professor Dumbledore told me a bit about my family history, but it doesn't mean I'm going to accept that sort of behavior."

"And neither do I," Narcissa snarled down at her son. "We will talk about this once we get home, Draco."

"Yes, Mother," Draco sighed with his head down.

Turning back to the girl in front of her, Narcissa smiled down at her. "You look like your father, but you have a mouth like your uncle. I see that you have the Black family crest on your pouch."

"Yes" Aster nodded her head; mixed about how she felt about this woman. "It's inside of my dad's vault. I was told that when he died everything went to me."

"That is true," Narcissa smiled whimsically as if thinking back to something that only she knew. "I have not seen that crest in many many years."

"But you're a Black? Don't you have the Black crest on your things?"

"When a witch marries into another family, we give up our own family crest and accept our new one," the older witch sighed. "I am a Malfoy now, and everything I own belongs to the Malfoys. Sirius gave up the Black family name many years before he even started at Hogwarts, and my sisters have both married as well. Regulus was the only one that I knew who kept everything he could."

"Oh," feeling something inside of her that she couldn't explain, Aster heard the door open up and saw the twins walking towards them. "I can send you a pouch, Narcissa," she kindly offered. "I have tons of them inside of the vault. Do you have a certain one that you used to love in particular?"

Seeing the frowns on both the twins' faces as they reached them, Narcissa immediately put her mask back up, and shook her head. "No, dear girl, I am a Malfoy now. Your friends are here, and I'm sure that they will return you back to Molly and Arthur safely. We'll be leaving now."

"Okay," Aster noticed the difference in how the witch spoke when her friends were around, and she didn't bother to question it. "Well, thank you for talking to me. I like learning things about my dad; things that make him seem human," when Narcissa responded with only a head nod, Aster looked at Draco, "I guess I'll see you around, Draco."

Draco nodded his head in response, and met her eyes. "Goodbye, Aster."

"Messers Weasley," Narcissa nodded her head at then in acknowledgement – something that Aster was certain she wouldn't normally do. "Aster."

Assuring the twins that she was fine, and that Narcissa was actually being really kind and polite to her, Aster paid for her things and quickly left the shop. The twins had a hard time believing that Narcissa Malfoy acted the way she told them she did, but Aster kept insisting it. It was hard for even her to believe it – and she was there – but it was nice to talk to someone who knew her dad as something other than just an evil Death Eater. The professors would sometimes tell her about how he was at school, but Aster wanted to know more. She didn't care if he ignored the professors, or if he was one of the brightest students; she wanted to know what his favorite book was, what types of food he used to love to eat, and what his favorite color was. Those were intimate questions that only someone close to him would know the answers to, and it seemed that Narcissa Malfoy was that someone.

By the time Lee finally met up with them, they were sitting down and eating ice-cream not too far away from Ron and Hermione. Fred and George both looked over at her for confirmation, and once Aster nodded her head the three of them started to fill Lee in on everything that happened since the Azkaban breakout. Making sure to keep quiet so nobody else could hear them the three of them delved into their plans to catch Sirius, their thoughts on the Ministry, and how important it is that Harry never find out the truth. Not because Aster was scared he would attack her, but because they all knew that Harry knowing the truth would mean Harry, Ron, and Hermione solving this on their own. Lee nodded his head at everything they told him, then when they were finished he turned to Aster, "So when do we start?"

"There's something else," Aster softly admitted while they walked around the streets. "Something that I didn't even tell you guys," she looked at Fred and George.

"What is it?" the three boys asked her.

"The name Peter Pettigrew… where do you guys know it from?"

Fred and George frowned, but it was Lee who gasped. "The Marauders Map!"

"Exactly," she sighed. "Which means…"

"Sirius didn't kill him!" the twins finally caught on to what she was saying. "Why didn't you tell us this?"

"Because I didn't know what to think of it," Aster shyly admitted. "I mean, what if the map is lying?"

"The map never lies," Fred quickly shook his head.

"But how is that even possible?" Lee asked them. "Everyone says that the witnesses all saw Sirius Black kill him that day. All they found of Pettigrew was a finger."

"Exactly!"

George's eyes suddenly widened. "Sirius Black was best friends with Peter Pettigrew too, right? Sirius is an un-registered Animagus, at least from what Aster guesses, so who's to say that-"

"Pettigrew isn't one as well!" Aster suddenly gasped. "I didn't think of that. George, that's genius. And according to Narcissa, Sirius didn't seem like the type of guy who would turn at the end like that."

"So we're trusting the wives of Death Eaters now?" Lee questioned with a confused look.

Aster sighed. "Look, I just have a feeling okay. Something just tells me that she was genuinely concerned for me. Besides, we all agreed that something was fishy with the whole Sirius situation."

"But you_ did_ think that Sirius was looking for you to turn you into a Death Eater," Fred pointed out.

"And I'm not looking away from that option yet," Aster nodded her head. "But now we have a new theory. And this theory suggests that my uncle was framed by one of his best friends, and that he's spent twelve years in Azkaban as a framed man."

"And if this new theory is wrong?" asked George.

"Then you can all tell me you said so."

"Oh, yay!" Lee rolled his eyes. "We'll all be dead, but we still get the promise of saying I told you so."

"You guys don't have to help me."

"Don't be so daft!" the three boys all replied in unison while rolling their eyes. "But what's the new plan?"

"No new plan," Aster grinned. "We still catch him. The only change is that if he's innocent he won't try to kill us."

Lee suddenly exchanged a worried look with the twins, and when Aster caught them, it was George who sighed. "What if he still thinks _you're_ evil though? What if Sirius was framed by Pettigrew, and he is innocent, but he still thinks you're going to become a Death Eater like your dad?"

"Then the plan stays the same, and he tries to kill me," Aster shrugged her shoulders, but a cocky smile played on her lips. "At least if he's innocent he won't kill you lot. You aren't potential Death Eaters; only me."

"Merlin's Beard!"

"Bloody hell!"

"We need a new friend!"

Smirking between the twins while all three boys shook their heads at the way she was talking, Aster remembered about the yellow money pouch in her bra. "Oi, Lee!" she called out while reaching into the bra and pulling it out, "Figured you'd might as well match us."

Grinning as he caught the pouch in his hands, Lee's fingers gently caressed the crest carved into it, and his eyes widened while he heard the jingling sound of coins from inside of it. "I can see your family rolling in their graves now, Aster – giving a muggle-born a Black family heirloom."

Once her new things were all put away neatly inside of her trunk, Aster went downstairs into the pub part of the Leaky Cauldron. Gathering all of her curls into a sloppy bun, she decided to sit at a table by herself. If what George thought was true, then it was possible her uncle wasn't a murderer. She knew nothing about him, only the stories that people would tell her, but she found herself wishing he didn't betray the Potters. It was hard enough to be the daughter of a man who killed people for the fun of it; she didn't want to be the niece of one either. From the moment she's entered Hogwarts, she heard stories of how her uncle was the only Black to ever be placed in Gryffindor; outside of Slytherin. And although she knew he was in Azkaban, she's always prayed that she turned out to be more like him than her own dad. But how could she look up to a man who betrayed his own best friends? She would rather look up to Voldemort himself than look up to a man who betrayed his own friends.

"Hey Aster."

Slightly jumping out of her thoughts, Aster turned in her seat and saw Harry Potter standing in front of her. His glasses were slightly askew, and his hair all ruffled up. Feeling guilty while taking in the crooked smile on the younger boy's face, Aster tried not to think about how her uncle might be the one responsible for killing his parents. "Hullo, Harry. Good summer, I presume?"

Harry snickered. "So you heard about that, have you?"

"I was staying at the Burrow these past two weeks," Aster nodded her head. "Mr. Weasley came home from work, telling us all about it. You do us proud, Harry."

Harry started to laugh. "At least somebody finds it amusing. Hermione went into a lecture about how I shouldn't blow people up, and Ron keeps grumbling that he wishes he could. I didn't do it purposely though. It sort of just happened."

"Well, if things like that just sort of keep happening, I'll have to be careful around you," Aster replied with a teasing wink to show him she was just joking. "Do you have all of your books already?"

"I brought them my first day here," Harry nodded his head. "I saw you at Florean Fortescue's eating ice cream. You seemed to be pretty heavy into your conversation though."

"Did I?" starting to feel uncomfortable because she knew the topic of the conversation was sort of betraying Harry in a way, Aster tried to play it off innocently. "You should have said hullo anyway. Sorry I didn't see you."

"It's nothing," Harry waved her apology off with a shrug of his shoulders. "So did you make any new friends over the summer?"

Aster and Harry got along for a number of reasons, but the one thing that always connected them was that they were both orphans because of Voldemort. The only difference was that Harry's mum's horrid sister was willing to take him in no matter how much she hated Lily Potter or Harry; Aster's dad's brother refused to take her in. Harry knew that Aster's dad was once a follower of Voldemort, but he didn't hold it against her. Regulus Black died when Aster was only a year old, and she was raised in a muggle orphanage all of her life; he trusted her just as much as he trusted any of the Weasleys – they were sort of like a little broken family in a way; two orphans, from the age of only one, brought together because of a war that their parents both fought in. While Aster told Harry all about Lila, Ginger, and Jimmy, she showed him her new tattoos, and laughed at his expression. He always shuddered at the thought of needles.

At that moment, Mrs. Weasley entered the pub the same time that the twins came downstairs from their room. Mrs. Weasley was followed by Ginny and Percy. "Hullo," Ginny quickly muttered without looking up at Harry, then ran up the stairs to put her new things away.

When Percy approached Harry though, Aster had to hide her laughter behind her hands. "Harry," the Head Boy greeted him, shaking his hands as if they've never met before. "How nice to see you."

"Hullo, Percy," Harry was trying not to laugh.

"I hope you're well?" Percy was still shaking his hands, as if meeting the mayor instead of greeting a young boy who stays with your family from time to time.

"Very well, thanks-"

"Harry!" Fred joined the picture, elbowing Percy to bump him out of the way. Bowing deeply towards Harry, he said "Simply splendid to see you, old boy-"

"Marvelous!" George joined in on the teasing and pushed Fred away so that he could start to shake Harry's hand now. "Absolutely spiffing."

Percy was scowling, and Aster knew she was red in the face from trying to hold in her laughter so much. "That's enough, now," Mrs. Weasley interrupted.

"Mum!" Fred's eyes widened as he turned to his mum, and he began to shake her hand as well. "How really corking to see you-"

"I said that's enough," Mrs. Weasley sighed, dropping her bags into an empty chair and scowling at her sons. "Hullo, Harry, dear. I suppose you've heard our exciting news?"

Before Harry had a chance to open his mouth though, Percy was already puffing out his chest and pointing at the shiny badge on his chest. "I've been made Head Boy. Second one in the family, you know, Harry."

"Yes!" Mrs. Weasley beamed, and it was evident from her look that she was proud of the accomplishment.

Rolling his eyes, Fred suddenly seized Aster into his arms, forcing her to stand up. Knowing what he was about to do, Aster tried to make a run for it, but he was too busy holding onto her. "And… we've got a Prefect."

"No way!" Harry's jaw dropped as he turned away from congratulating Percy. "They made you Prefect?"

Blushing, Aster elbowed Fred so he could release her. "Yeah," she muttered, "It isn't a big deal though – oh, don't start up again, Percy."

"Yeah, Periwinkle," Ron snorted from the side. "Harry, c'mon, before Hermione's new _thing _tries to eat Scabbers again."

Dinner at The Leaky Cauldron reminded Aster of the orphanage. Tom put three large tables together so the Weasleys, plus Harry, Hermione, and Aster could all eat together as a large family. Just like in the orphanage they were all talking over each other, the food was scattered all along the table with the occasional 'can you pass the salt,' and it made Aster feel at home. It was different from meals at Hogwarts, but it was something familiar that she could hold on to.

"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" Fred asked through a mouthful of chocolate pudding.

"The Ministry's providing a couple cars."

No one was stunned when Percy spoke up next. "Why?"

Feeling Aster tense next to him as she realized the Ministry thought she would kill Harry on the way to the train station, George kept a serious face on. "It's because of you, Perce. And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them-"

"-for Humongous Bighead," Fred also wore a serious face.

Smirking across the table at Ginny, Aster snorted into her pudding. "Why is the Ministry providing cars, Father?" Percy asked again, sounding dignified.

"Well, as we haven't got one anymore," Mr. Weasley said with reddened ears, "- and as I work there, they're doing me a favor."

After showering, and telling the twins that she didn't want any part in vandalizing Percy's Head Boy badge, Aster returned to the room she was sharing with the two younger girls, and pulled out a roll of parchment from her trunk, along with her new quill and new inkwell. Making sure that both Hermione and Ginny weren't paying attention to her, she quickly scribbled out a letter.

_Bill,_

_ I know we've only met once before, but I was hoping you could do me a favor. I don't really trust anyone going into my vault (because I don't know what's in it) and I know that every Gringotts all over the world has access to every vault, no matter which Gringotts you're in. And seeing as how you're a Curse Breaker you wouldn't have any trouble inside of the vault. Is it possible for you to search through my vault for money pouches that don't have the Black Family crest on it? Or if I were to need anything from the vault, say around Christmas time, would you be able to go inside and grab it for me? I'm only used to having shops take the amount owed to them directly from my vault when I'm in school, so I don't know how this usually works._

_ Is there anything specific that I need to do in order to give you access to my vault? Could you please let me know as soon as you can? I know you must be busy, so I understand if you have other things to do, but could you at least let me know if you can't do this for me?_

_ Thank you,_

_ Aster Black_

_Oh, and by the way, I changed your room's walls to light purple because pale blue made me nauseous. I hope you don't mind. And thank you again, for letting me stay in there for the past two weeks._

"Frost," calling to the light grey owl that was currently perched inside of his cage, Aster stood up and walked over to him. Tying the letter around his foot, she whispered, "Please take this to Bill Weasley. And I'll see you at Hogwarts, boy."

**I have new followers and new likers, so hello(: please review guys. I want to know what you guys like about this story. I also live on reviews, they make me all giddy inside and I start to clap to myself while loudly squealing. It's quite amusing when I'm in a store or on the bus and I get the notification for a new review! Do you guys like how it's going so far? Do you like Aster? Her relationship with the twins and Lee? What about Narcissa and Draco?**

**Next chapter shows more of Lee, and introduces more characters, plus a couple of Dementors. I think you guys may like it. It also mentions something of Aster's crush(:**


	4. Strange Sensations

**I hope that all of you guys are safe! And if any of you live in the East Coast, that you guys are all being careful and staying out of harms way! My thoughts are with all of you!**

Strange Sensations

"Does everybody have clothes on?"

Rolling her eyes at the dramatic way Fred was knocking on the door, Aster opened it. "Hermione and Ginny are downstairs already."

Noticing the owl's cage was empty, George cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "Where's Frost?"

"Told him I'd meet him at Hogwarts," Aster didn't want them to know she owled Bill. Not until she was sure that he'd be able to get them the pouches. There was no sense in bringing up their hopes only to have them drop. "What's up?"

Sitting on the bed, Fred watched as Aster brushed her hair in front of the mirror. "We've got some trouble."

"What's wrong?"

Sitting next to his twin, George took in the way Aster's shorts didn't do much to cover up any part of the tattoos on her thighs. Her shirt seemed to fail at its job too. "We were on our way to see if you girls were up yet, and we heard Harry whispering about something with Ron."

"Okay, and?"

"Well, last night we were sneaking around and jinxing Percy's badge," Fred reminded her, "And we heard Mum and Dad inside of their room-"

"-they were talking about Sirius Black," George quickly pointed out when he saw the disgust rising on Aster's face, "And about how the Ministry believes that he's coming for Harry."

Aster groaned. "Harry heard them too, didn't he?"

"And we think that's what he was telling Ron."

Giving up on braiding her hair back, Aster just left it down and tossed her brush into the open purse she had on the bed. "Well, that complicates things, but not that much. We knew they would find out eventually."

"We don't think he knows everything though," George assured her, "Only that Sirius is after him."

Breakfast was a quiet and awkward affair. Mr. Weasley kept glancing between Harry and Aster, and Percy kept scowling at Ron for ruining his picture of his girlfriend. By the time they all had to return upstairs to bring down their trunks for the cars, Aster was trying not to strangle Hermione's new cat. Because she's an Animagus, she found her senses being more astute than normal. She remembered Professor McGonagall teaching them that in their third year – which is why the stern professor is able to reach places where trouble is most likely brewing; her cat senses kick in and she can sense when danger is approaching. It's weird trying to get used to her senses, but they kept throwing Aster off. She could sense whenever Fred and George were near, and she could sense Lee, but none of them could sense Professor McGonagall, nor could she sense them. Aster was able to sense the un-registered Animagus at the orphanage, and she could now sense that Hermione brought a bloody Kneazle.

"It's alright, Crookshanks," Aster heard Hermione cooing through a small wickerwork basket at the ugly orange ball of fur; "I'll let you out on the train."

"No!" Ron immediately snapped at Hermione. "What about Scabbers? That bloody beast of yours keeps trying to eat him."

Aster didn't have time to hear the rest of their argument because the twins were soon pulling her after them when Mrs. Weasley announced the arrival of the cars. Making sure that her wand was safe and sound inside of her bra, Aster tossed the tiny beige colored purse into the backseat of the car that she would be sitting in, and helped Mr. Weasley load her trunk into the boot of the car. Sliding in between Fred and George, they were soon joined by Ginny who kept asking questions about what she was going to learn in second year. Elbowing George when he kept insisting that second year was when Professor Flitwick announces his love for Professor McGonagall, Aster tried to assure Ginny that it would be an easy year for her.

Once the cars pulled over at the train station to let them out, Mr. Weasley quickly began to unload their trunks onto trolleys. Aster noticed the way that Mrs. Weasley tugged on her hand, while Mr. Weasley made sure to keep extra close to Harry. "Right then," Mr. Weasley announced once they reached the barrier to the platform, "Let's do this in pairs, as there are so many of us. I'll go through first with Harry."

Aster and George both exchanged looks at that – Mr. Weasley was horrible at hiding things. "Ginny and Percy now," Mrs. Weasley announced once her husband and Harry were out of sight. "Okay, Ron and Hermione, you two go next."

"We'll follow after you and Aster, Mum," Fred told his mum, making it known that he and his twin had caught on to what their parents were doing. They didn't want to leave either Harry or Aster alone for as long as possible.

Mrs. Weasley nodded her head. "Don't take too long you two. We don't need another repeat of what happened to Ron and Harry last year. C'mon, dear."

Aster nodded her head, and started pushing her trolley towards the brick barrier, but from the corner of her eyes she spotted him again – the same shaggy dog from outside the orphanage two weeks before. If anything it looked even worse now than it did before. "Aster?" George called to her, noticing her blank expression as she stared off into space.

"What is it?" Fred asked, trying to search the station.

Staring at the dog, Aster noticed the way it sat in the midst of the walking muggles; staring at her with a cocked head, and his tongue lolling out. The dog seemed to be just as confused as she was – he spotted her with Harry only seconds before. "Aster?" Mrs. Weasley gently tugged at her hand. "Are you alright, dear?"

"Yeah," Aster quickly turned away from the dog. "Sorry, I just thought I saw this stray dog that used to hang out at the orphanage sometimes."

Seeing the recognition click into place for her two best friends, Aster allowed Mrs. Weasley to hold onto her hand as they casually leaned against the wall before falling into platform nine and three quarters. Once the twins met up with them, Aster shook her head to stop them from asking her any questions in front of the adults. With confusion still on her face, Aster watched as Mr. Weasley took Harry onto the side to talk with him. Feeling somewhat betrayed at what she suspected the older man was telling the young boy, Aster allowed Mrs. Weasley to hug her the way a mother would, and kiss her forehead.

"Take care this year," Mrs. Weasley told her. "And feel free to owl me for anything, dear. I don't want you thinking too much about certain things. Professor Dumbledore will take care of everything."

_It's not like Professor Dumbledore knows the man they're hunting down is an Animagus_, Aster thought to herself, but nodded her head for the witch's benefit. "Thank you Mrs. Weasley, for everything."

"Aster," Mr. Weasley called to her as Harry was walking away. She saw the weird look that Harry was giving her, and it worried her a bit. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Nodding her head, Aster hugged Mrs. Weasley once more then told Fred and George she would meet them on the train. "Yes, Mr. Weasley?"

"Harry knows that Sirius Black is looking for him," he sighed with an exasperated tone. "He doesn't know the true reason why, but it seems he's overheard an argument between Molly and I last night. He knows that Sirius was a follower of You-Know-Who, and that's all he knows."

Aster nodded her head. "I know, Mr. Weasley."

Surprise took over his tired looking face. "Merlin's Beard! Is there anything that you children don't know?"

Fidgeting with her hands, Aster smiled up at him. "I overheard him trying to tell Ron about it this morning. Does Harry know that I know too?"

"Yes. That seems to be something he didn't overhear last night, but he didn't seem that shocked about it. To be truthful he was more shocked about learning that Sirius wanted something to do with him. All this time he thought the extra precautions were for you."

"For me?" Aster bit out just a little too harshly. "The Ministry worry about protecting the Death Eater's daughter?" she scoffed. "It's a kind thought, but we mustn't get too ahead of ourselves. I thought Harry would have noticed by now that you guys are the only ones in this world who doesn't hate me."

"Aster-"

"It's fine, Mr. Weasley," Aster sighed, "I'm used to it by now. Thank you for warning me though, and I'm sure that Harry appreciates knowing half of the truth as well; though I'm sure Mrs. Weasley wouldn't like knowing that he knows."

Mr. Weasley nodded his head and began to scratch at it. "Take care this year, Aster, and I want you to promise me the same thing I asked of Harry. Promise me you won't go looking for Sirius Black."

"Go looking for the guy who helped to kill my friend's parents, and wants to turn me into a Death Eater?" Aster feigned ignorance, all the while praying that he couldn't see the truth in her mind. "Why would I do that?"

"Because I know you," he chuckled. The train began to whistle, and he could hear his sons calling Aster's name from the train. "Just promise me."

Aster nodded her head. "I need to go, Mr. Weasley," hugging the man that she took like a father, Aster pulled away and smiled. "I'll be careful, Mr. Weasley. Thank you for everything."

"That wasn't a promise," chasing after the train that was now starting to move, Mr. Weasley watched as two of his sons pulled the running girl up so she could make it onto the train. "Aster, that wasn't a promise."

Waving at the two eldest Weasleys who were now running after them, Aster smiled, "Bye. Thank you for everything."

With George's hand tightly wrapped around her right, and Fred's hand tightly wrapped around her left, Aster allowed them to pull her down the train until they found the compartment with only Lee inside of it. Once they were seated though, Aster pulled on Lee's hand so she could look at the watch on his wrist. Groaning, she ignored their incredulous stares and began to dig through her trunk for her robes. Pretending they weren't watching her, Aster began to pull on her robes, her Gryffindor tie, and she ignored Lee's shocked gasp as she pinned the Prefect badge on.

"You-you-you – what?"

"Oh yeah," Aster feigned innocence while turning around so she could face Lee. "I'm Prefect this year."

"I can see that," he rolled his eyes. "Bloody hell! And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't want anyone to know."

"Yes," Fred snickered, "Because nobody is going to see you prancing around Hogwarts with that blasted badge on you all year."

Frowning as she had a flashback of what the twins did to Percy's badges over the past years, Aster pointed her wand at the both of them, "And it better be in tact all year. I mean it you two. I don't want either of you jinxing my badge this year. I may not want to be Prefect, but it annoys Percy so I'm going to make sure I'm a better Prefect than he ever was. If I catch any of you near my badge, I'll hex you so hard that Godric Gryffindor will be feeling it."

"Yes Ma'am!" they both gulped.

"Good," seeing as she had at least ten minutes left before she had to meet the other prefects in a separate compartment, Aster sat back down next to Lee. "So did you guys see him?"

"See who?" Lee asked.

Fred nodded his head. "He stared at us for a couple of seconds before running away."

"I don't think he was there for you though," George added.

"Me neither. I think he was there to watch Harry."

"Who was where to watch Harry?"

Turning to Lee, Aster whispered, "Sirius was at the train station when we were making our way through the barrier. I'm positive it's him. It's the same exact dog from the orphanage."

"And there's no way that was a normal dog," George assured him.

Filling all three boys in on what Mr. Weasley told her before she jumped onto the train; Aster listened as the twins also told Lee about their night and morning and how they already knew that Harry knew something. The four of them started to voice their theories on why Sirius Black would chance going to a muggle train station for a glimpse of Harry Potter if he was or wasn't innocent, but Aster didn't have much time to talk with them – she needed to be with the other prefects already.

Entering the tiny compartment that Professor McGonagall told her she needed to go to while on the train, Aster saw that she wasn't the last to arrive. Of course Percy was already sitting in the Head Boy spot; wearing his badge with pride, and not realizing what it said thanks to the twins. Next to Percy was his girlfriend of a year, Penelope Clearwater. It was evident by the way she giggled that she saw Percy's badge, but she clearly found it more amusing to laugh about it then warn him. Aster also noticed that the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Prefects were already there: sixth year Ravenclaws; Philip Reid and Sarah Douglas, and then the fifth years; Roger Davies and Patricia Goldmein. The sixth year Hufflepuff Prefects were Max Yama and Gwen James, and then much to Aster's joy the fifth years were Cedric Diggory and Eileen Hanson. Only the sixth years from Slytherin were there, and she noticed it was Bole and Lydia Greengrass, and Gryffindors' sixth year Prefects seemed to be Riley Spencer and Jamie White.

Aster was in a deep conversation with Riley and Jamie about their summer holidays, when the compartment door slid open and Kenneth Tyler stepped inside. Waving at the slightly tanned boy that she expected to be paired with – since it wasn't Fred, George, or Lee – Aster groaned when she saw the two Slytherins enter behind him: Adrian Pucey and Montague. Of course Slytherin wasn't going to have a girl Prefect for fifth year – fifth year had only three Slytherins; all of which were males. She expected to see Adrian, he was somewhat decent, but not Montague. Couldn't Professor Dumbledore have just ignored the two Prefect rule, and leave Adrian by himself?

"Great," Percy grinned while standing up, "Now that we're all here, why don't we introduce ourselves?"

"We already know everybody, Weasley," Bole drawled from where he sat next to Lydia.

"It's custom, you dipwad!" Aster scowled at him. Only she and other Weasleys, as well as Lee, Harry, and Hermione, could make fun of Percy. "I'll go first. I'm Aster Black, and I'm a fifth year Prefect for Gryffindor."

"And I'm Kenneth Tyler," Kenneth grinned from his seat next to Aster; knowing she was only going along with this to please Percy. "I'm the other fifth year Gryffindor Prefect."

As if wanting to prove that he wasn't as fucked up as the rest of his house, Adrian waved his hand. "I'm Adrian Pucey, and I'm one of the fifth year Prefects for Slytherin."

It continued all the way down the line until Percy and Penelope both introduced themselves as well. Once they were all reintroduced for the benefit of the Head Boy, Penelope started to pass out a piece of parchment to each of them. "Sixth year Prefects already know what this is, but for those of you who are new this year, this is our patrolling schedule. You may know what a Prefect does because you've seen them around school, but it goes beyond just busting students who do something they're not supposed to. We also patrol the school during nights. It's eight Prefects a night; four sixth years and four fifth years. You will patrol in shifts: the fifth years will patrol from nine to ten, then sixth years will patrol from ten to eleven, then we Heads will take over until midnight; at which time the professors will then take over."

"You will not always patrol with the person from your house," Percy took over for his girlfriend. "While two of you are in one section of the school, the other two will be on the other side. One night a Gryffindor will be with a Hufflepuff then the next night you'll be with a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw. You will each patrol at least three nights out of the week. Sundays are the only night that we do not patrol at all. This schedule is the one you will work with for the rest of the year."

"The Prefect bathroom is located on the fifth floor at the fifth door on the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered," Penelope informed them. "The password to enter it is _Bee's Knees_. Percy and I are the only two who are able to change the password, and we'll inform all of you if we do so."

"We'll meet up twice a month so we can discuss patrols, and anything else that needs to be addressed. This is an honor that should be taken seriously, and if we find out that any of you are abusing your privilege, we will have Professor Dumbledore take away your badge," Percy's eyes met the amused gaze of Aster as he said this part.

Clearing her throat, Penelope motioned to the parchment that everyone was now holding. "Please take a look at your schedule right now, so we can answer any questions that you have."

_**Monday:**__ (9-10) Black/ Pucey, Tyler/Montague (10-11) Reid/James, Yama/Douglas_

_**Tuesday: **__(9-10) Davies/Hanson, Diggory/Goldmein (10-11) Bole/White, Spencer/Greengrass_

_**Wednesday:**__ (9-10) Diggory/Black, Montague/Hanson (10-11) Greengrass/Reid, Yama/White_

_**Thursday:**__ (9-10) Pucey/Goldmein, Tyler/Davies (10-11) James/Yama, Reid/Douglas_

_**Friday: **__(9-10) Black/Tyler, Hanson/Pucey (10-11) Greengrass/Bole, Spencer/White_

_**Saturday: **__(9-10) Montague/Goldmein, Davies/Diggory (10-11) James/Spencer, Douglas/Bole_

"Where are your names?" Roger questioned with an annoyed look on his face.

"We didn't bother writing it down because we're patrolling every night from eleven to midnight," Penelope assured him. "I know some of you don't like the people that you're going to be patrolling with, nor do you agree on the days, but Professor McGonagall is the one who helped us make these."

"What if we get detention?" Montague asked with a sneer in Aster's direction. If he once respected her for being a Black, he quickly lost it once he realized she'd rather be known as a Gryffindor than as a pureblood. He also started to hate her after she turned him down in their third year when he asked her to go with him to Hogsmeade.

"Then ask someone who doesn't patrol that night if they can switch another night with you," Percy also seemed to be staring at Aster.

Aster didn't let the sneering get to her though; she was just pleased she wouldn't get stuck with Montague at all. Thank Merlin that Percy had enough sense left in him to know how disastrous that would be… or at least Professor McGonagall remembered what happened the last time the two of them were left alone together. Professor Snape was almost on the verge of tears when he saw what they did to his lab while trying to kill each other. "What about the people who play Quidditch?" she asked. "Sometimes practice can last up until nine thirty."

"You don't play Quidditch, Black," Montague scoffed.

"No," she nodded her head, "But Cedric does. Actually, Cedric's the only one who does play in here. I'm willing to take your nights if practice runs late, Cedric."

Grinning at the girl across the table, Cedric chuckled. "Thanks, Aster, but aren't you forgetting someone else in here that plays?"

Seeing the way that Montague was practically seething in his seat, Aster smirked. "Oh, is that what you do when on your broom, Montague? My bad, I thought you were trying to show us all how to do that new muggle dance."

"Right!" Penelope decided to jump in before a fight broke out. "So, this is all we needed to see you for. Remember now, you'll all need to stay back once the train reaches Hogwarts so you can help everyone off the train. And once the feast is over, you fifth years will be the ones to show the new first years to your common rooms."

Percy began to read off a piece of parchment. "Here are the passwords; make sure you remember them: Slytherin – _Fresh_, Hufflepuff – _Finders Keepers_, and Gryffindor – _Mufasa_."

Laughing to herself as she pictured Professor Dumbledore watching Lion King, Aster heard Lydia Greengrass ask a question. "What's the Ravenclaw password?"

"We don't have passwords, Greengrass" Roger sneered as if it were the most obvious answer ever, "We have riddles that only smart people can answer."

Aster saw the way Lydia blushed, and she quickly cocked an eyebrow. "So how long do _you _usually have to wait until someone else from your house can come and let you in?"

"Nobody asked your opinion, Black."

"No," she shrugged, "But I asked you. It's a very serious question, Davies."

"Aster!" Percy groaned. "Can't you at least try to be good this year?"

"Whatever," Aster shrugged her shoulders again. "Are we finished here or do we have to listen to Davies and Montague as they continue to pretend they're Merlin's hottest gifts to earth?"

Hiding a smirk, Penelope shook her head. "You guys can go now. We'll send you your letters with the next meeting's date on it."

"Hey, Black."

Stopping at the door when she heard her name being shouted, Aster saw Lydia walking towards her. She and Lydia weren't the best of friends, but like her younger sisters, Lydia didn't really get too much into the whole 'pureblood' supremacy thing. "Hey Greengrass."

"Thanks for that," the blonde girl smiled; her green eyes twinkling with amusement. "Davies can be a real prick sometimes, huh?"

"Just sometimes?" Aster asked, shaking her head. "I wonder how he manages to walk with that stick he has lodged all the way up his arse."

Laughing, Lydia flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I don't envy whoever gets stuck with him on patrol."

"I'm just glad it's not me."

Sitting back with her friends, Aster tried not to think about having to be alone with Adrian for an hour every Monday night. She's sort of had a crush on him since her first year. He was always that cute little dark haired boy in Slytherin who mostly kept to himself. It was like one of those forbidden crush sort of things. He was the tanned Italian boy in Slytherin with the dark slick hair that stuck up in every angle, and the mischievous dark blue eyes. He was a cute little thing at eleven years old, but now at fifteen – he seemed to be every girl's wet dream. The twins and Lee always knew about her little crush on Adrian, and that was the only reason she didn't tell them she had to patrol with him every Monday. They would tease her endlessly, and then they would do something to scare Adrian off from her. She didn't want him to be scared off from her, she wanted him to… well, she… the point is, she doesn't want him to be scared off.

"You okay?" Lee asked, noticing that Aster's been staring out the window for the past fifteen minutes. When she nodded her head in response, he chuckled, "The trolley lady just passed by."

Squeaking as she jumped up, Aster quickly ran out of the compartment so she could meet up with the trolley lady. She didn't even stop to see if her friends brought anything while she was lost in her own mind. "Oi!" she shouted, trying to gain the woman's attention. "Wait!"

"Merlin, Black, someone might think you were starving."

Blushing when she realized she was now standing in front of a compartment filled with Slytherins, Aster saw Adrian standing at the doorway and waiting to buy things off the trolley. "I didn't see the trolley pass by," she muttered.

"You did seem lost, dear," the woman assured her. "Your friends kept trying to call you, but you didn't seem to hear them."

"Right," thrusting a couple of galleons at into the wrinkled hands, Aster gathered her bundle of sweets, and looked up at Adrian. "Don't worry, Pucey, I left some sweets for you."

"Are you alright?" Fred asked once Aster sat down next to Lee.

George looked suspicious. "You seem kind of flustered."

"I had to chase her," Aster quickly lied, not wanting to meet any of their eyes.

Hearing somebody clear their throat from the door, four heads lifted to see a tall blonde standing in their compartment. His hair was longer and shaggier than Aster remembered ever seeing it; almost as if he outgrew his hair gel. The silver eyes almost identical to her own seemed to be staring back at her, and in his hands was the pouch that she used to carry all of her money inside. "You dropped this outside of our compartment," he told her, "Adrian was going to bring it, but I grabbed it before he had a chance."

Hearing George growl while the other two laughed as they realized why she was flustered when she returned to their compartment, Aster wasn't sure whether she wanted to praise Draco for saving her the embarrassment of having Adrian return it himself, or if she wanted to kill him for stopping Adrian from coming to her. "Erm… thanks, Draco."

Nodding his head in acknowledgment, Draco tossed the pouch to her. "I recognized it from the shop that day."

"Right, about that, do you know which pouch your mum would want?" she asked him. "I saw the reminiscent look in her eyes that day as she talked about it, so I was thinking of sending one to her. I just don't know which one she would want."

Draco looked confused for a bit; as if he couldn't understand why someone who wasn't him would want to do something so kind for his mother. "I could… err… I could find out for you."

"Could you?" she asked. "That would be great."

Draco nodded his head. It was obvious that the conversation was over. He did his good deed by bringing her the pouch, and she asked him about his mum's pouch, but he still stood there. Draco showed no movement to leave them alone. "Is there something else that you wanted, Malfoy?" Fred asked him.

Draco looked from the bewildered face of one twin, to the amused face of the other, the confused face of Lee, and the concerned face of his cousin. "I have something for you," he finally muttered in a low tone. "I sort of noticed the way you looked at Mother when she admitted to knowing you when you were a baby, and I…"

When Draco stopped talking suddenly, Aster looked across at Fred and George, and motioned for them to scoot over. When they slowly did so, she pointed at the empty spot next to George. "Draco, why don't you sit down?"

"Are you sure?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Nervously sitting next to the older brothers of the boy he's constantly picking on, Draco reached into his robe pockets. "I know that it isn't much, but Mother told me that the albums you'll have inherited from your father doesn't have any of the important pictures you'll really want. She wouldn't let me bring all of them, but she did give me this one to give to you."

"What is it?" taking the picture from Draco, Aster heard herself gasping. Staring up at her was a pale little baby with a head full of thick black hair, and bright silver colored eyes. There was a tiny little emerald pierced in each ear, and she was wearing an emerald colored dress with tiny little silver colored booties, and a tiny little green bow on her head. She looked to be no more than two weeks old, but she was smiling and seemed to be laughing at the woman holding her.

"Is that Narcissa Malfoy?" Lee asked, leaning his head on Aster's shoulder to look closely at the picture.

Draco nodded his head, and watched the emotions flood over Aster's face. "Yes."

In the picture was a younger version of the Narcissa that she met. Narcissa was sitting on a couch, wearing a deep violet colored silk robe over what looked like a nightgown. Her long blonde strands were messily sprawled around her face, but she was too busy smiling down at the baby in her arms to care that she looked as if she just woke up. Standing behind her was the young eighteen year boy that Aster learned to call 'Dad' – she would recognize him anywhere by now: the face so identical to hers, with the long black curls that fell all along his shoulders. He seemed to be laughing at something. "And I can keep this?"

Draco nodded his head. "Mother said she'll send you more, but this was the only one she would allow me to bring on such short notice. She wants to put some into an album for you to have."

"But I thought you had pictures of you and your dad?" Fred asked Aster.

Both Draco and Aster shook their head in unison, but it was Draco who answered the question. "Uncle Regulus only had albums filled with pictures of his family and his friends from school. All the pictures that he had of Aster were never put into any official albums yet. And when he died, Mother didn't add any of them into his albums; she kept all of the pictures in a box so she could look at them any time she wanted to. There's some that she can't give up, but she's going to make sure you get a lot of them, Aster."

"Thank you," Aster grinned up at the boy sitting across from her. "Really, Draco, thank you. I always see pictures of my dad, but I never saw one of us together. I have pictures of me as a baby, but only from the orphanage. I don't have anything from my first year."

The twins were shocked when they saw the genuine smile on Draco's face. "I convinced Mother to send you one of Father holding you."

"You mean Lucius Malfoy carried me while I was a baby?" Aster gaped.

Draco smirked. "Yes, and in the certain picture that you'll be receiving, Father is bouncing you in his arms, and he's shouting at Mother to hurry up and bring you a shirt because you're only wearing a nappy and he thinks you're crying because you're cold, but then you suddenly throw up on him. It's quite priceless, really."

"Brilliant!" the twins and Lee all said at once.

"I threw up on Lucius Malfoy," Aster began to laugh. Clutching the photo tightly in a clenched fist, she held onto her ribs while laughing. "Oh, Merlin, I cannot wait to see that picture. How did your mum say he reacted?"

"He was quite disgusted, and he shouted for Uncle Regulus to grab you away from him," Draco was still smirking, "But then you threw up on him again, and refused to let him go, so he ended up having to bathe you before bathing himself."

The entire compartment burst into loud laughter. Aster forgot all about Sirius Black, and Adrian Pucey, and it seemed like Draco was finally comfortable enough to loudly laugh alongside of them. Everything was going good until it suddenly got cold. The rain outside started to pick up, and the windows began to darken until the lanterns were the only things lightening up the train's corridors. The train began to rattle then it started to slow down.

"That was quick," Lee muttered jumping up.

Gripping her wand tightly, Aster also jumped up. "That was too fast. We can't be there yet."

"Why else would we stop?" Draco asked, not bothering with getting up if it was for nothing.

Looking back at the four boys who all watched her with curious gazes, Aster made her way to the door then stuck her head out. She was met with the faces of other heads poking out to see what was happening. The train started to sort of jolt until it finally came to a complete stop; making sure some of the luggage had fallen out along the way. Suddenly, without any warning, the lights all went off; plunging them into total darkness.

"What the hell?" came Lee's voice.

"Aster, are you alright?" asked George.

Aster nodded her head, but instantly felt foolish for doing so. They couldn't see her. "I'm fine," she assured them. "Are you guys okay? Draco?"

"Yeah," squeaked the frightened pitch of the thirteen year old. "What's happening?"

Before she could answer though, there was a squeaking sound, and Aster could barely make out the silhouette of Fred as he wiped at a patch of the window. "There's something moving out there. It looks like people are coming aboard."

"That's weird."

The compartment door suddenly opened, and Aster tried to jump back, but it was too late and she felt someone bump directly into her. "Ouch!"

"Black is that you?"

"Pucey?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for Draco. Is he with you?"

"I'm right here, Adrian."

"Oh good, you didn't come back so I started to get worried. Are you alright?"

"No, we've sacrificed him to the muggle devil."

"Weasley?"

"Ouch, Pucey, stop stepping on me."

"Sorry, Black – ahh, that's not my arm."

Aster could feel herself blushing, and was grateful that it was too dark for anyone to see her reddened cheeks. "Sorry."

"Ouch, now you're stepping on me."

"Is that Jordan?"

"No, it's Bell."

"Well, isn't this just a smarmy compartment? Are you sure you're alright, Draco."

"Bloody hell, Pucey, just stop moving. I'm going to be bruised by the time we reach Hogwarts."

"Here, hold out your hands so I know where I'm going."

"Oi! Those aren't my hands."

"What the hell are you two bloody doing over there?"

"Jealous, Weasley?"

"Stuff it, Pucey!"

"Is this your arm?"

"Yes."

"Okay, now slowly move towards your left."  
"Ouch!"

"What, what happened?"

"You just tried sitting on me. Move to your other left."

"Is that what you Slytherins do, Pucey? You turn your third years into seats for your convenience?"

"Shut it, Weasley. Sorry, Draco, are you alright?"

"Yes."

"OUCH! – oh hell, _lumos_!"

A soft illuminating light suddenly shined in the compartment, and Aster noticed that she was still clutching tightly onto Adrian. Looking up and seeing the shine in his eyes, she quickly pulled away. "It's about bloody time someone thinks to turn on the light," Lee huffed from where he sat alone.

"I was tired of being stepped on, and pushed into," Aster replied with a smirk in Adrian's direction. "Not to mention felt up."

"I was only paying you back, Black," Adrian smirked back at her. "Not that I didn't mind it."

Aster didn't have time to react though; the compartment door was suddenly being slid open. They all looked up at the cloaked figure that seemed to reach the ceiling. Its face was completely covered with its hood, and Aster faintly heard all of the other purebloods in the compartment gasp behind her. Lee seemed to be the only one who didn't make a sound. Quickly adverting her eyes, Aster saw a glistening, greyish, slimy looking skeletal hand protruding from the cloak; reaching towards them. Adrian pulled her away from the creature, holding her tightly against his chest, and the hand quickly disappeared. The thing beneath the hood quickly began to draw in a long, slow, rattling breath.

Everything turned to ice: her blood, her mind, her bones, her nerves, everything. Ice leaked into her heart, making her shiver against Adrian. Aster could feel her eyes rolling up into her head. She couldn't see anything. She was drowning in the cold. And just as quickly as it turned to ice, everything got dark again. It was too dark for the sun to ever shine again. She would never know the meaning of light; always trapped in the darkness that surrounded her and ate away at her.

Somebody was screaming from a distance. It was two people screaming: a man and a woman… and a baby. Yes, she could hear the distinct wailing of a newborn. Aster wanted to help them, but she was too busy falling deeper into the darkness while the ice drowned her.

"Aster! Aster! _Aster_!"

Aster felt somebody trying to shake her, and then she quickly felt a hand slap her. "W-what happened?" she groggily asked.

Opening her eyes, Aster noticed that all of the lights were turned back on once more, and she could feel the train moving again. Fred, George, Lee, Adrian, and Draco were all kneeling next to her; surrounding her. No – Adrian wasn't surrounding her… she was in Adrian's arms. Looking down, she realized that she must have passed out while he was holding her. And the others weren't kneeling; they were all standing in front of her. There was another man there. His skin was pale from exhaustion, his hair was shaggy, his eyes were blackened from sickness, and his clothes had rips and tears all in it. Scrunching her nose at the scent she got off of him, Aster noticed the way his eyes narrowed at her and her friends.

"Are you okay, Black?" Adrian asked. When she nodded her head, he said, "Jordan, help me get her onto the bench."

Allowing Lee and Adrian to help her sit down, Aster looked up at the man. "I heard people screaming," she told him. "A man and a woman… and there was a baby. I heard a newborn crying."

"There was nobody screaming, Miss Black," he assured her. "Here, eat this."

Eying the large piece of chocolate that he was handing her, Aster didn't take it. "I know I heard screaming."

"Nobody screamed, Aster," Fred shook his head.

George softly chuckled to lighten the mood, "Well, Malfoy screamed just a little, but I nearly did too. What the hell are Dementors doing on the train?"

"Dementors!" Aster's eyes suddenly widened. "They're here for me, aren't they?"

Adrian gasped while Fred and George snarled. Draco remained motionless from his section in the compartment, but it was the man's eyes that barely softened for the young witch. "No, Miss Black. They weren't here for you. The Dementors are guarding Hogwarts this year, and it seems they thought Sirius Black was on the train."

"Sirius Black on a train filled with students?" Adrian scoffed. "Even he isn't that naïve. Those bloody things could have killed Aster. Does Dumbledore know they were here?"

"No," the man sighed. "But he will. I was on my way to send a letter off to him, when I noticed you passed out in Mr. Pucey's arms," he forced the chocolate into Aster's hands, "Eat this, Miss Black, it won't harm you. Chocolate reenergizes you after a meeting with Dementors."

"How – how did they go away?" Aster asked, nibbling the corner of the chocolate bar. She felt guilty knowing that the Ministry sent the Dementors onto the train to try and claim her soul. This man, Draco, and Adrian may not know the truth. But she did, and so did her three best friends. The Dementors weren't searching for Sirius Black; they were searching for Aster Black.

"Harry fainted as well-"

"What?" Aster quickly tried to sit up. "Is he alright?"

"What about Ron and Ginny?" questioned Fred with wide eyes.

"And Hermione?" George added. "They're always in the same compartment. I bet Neville was in there too. Are they all okay?"

The man chuckled and nodded his head. "They're all fine. Luckily for them I happened to be in the same compartment as them," he glanced over at Draco who was suddenly trying to melt into the wall behind him. "I performed a charm to get rid of the Dementors before any real damage happened. I believe it was my charm that sent them away from you as well, or I fear you may have gotten the worse end of it."

"I'm fine," Aster assured him, getting weird vibes off of this man. Why did he look so familiar? And why was there a werewolf on the Hogwarts Express?

"Eat all of that chocolate, and you will be," he told her. Standing up straight, he looked at the boys, "I need to go and send that letter now. I trust you'll keep an eye on her?"

They nodded their heads at him, but once he was gone, Aster looked at the twins. "Go check on them."

"But-"

"I have Lee, Draco, and Pucey," she told them. "I'm fine. Go make sure Harry's okay. Merlin knows that boy's had enough trauma in his life. And check on the others."

Fred was quick to stand up, but George was more reluctant. "Aster, I don't think-"

"Go check on your brother and sister, George!"

Once the twins were gone, Aster sighed and relaxed into the chair. Looking around until she found the picture on the floor, she quickly bent down to pick it up. Sticking the picture into her bra so she would know it was safe, she asked the boys if they were all fine. Draco assured her that he only screamed because he knew it was a Dementor, and his father told him what they did, but other than that he was fine. Lee insisted that aside from feeling cold and as if he would never be happy again he was fine, and Adrian only shook his head at her and kept saying that she scared the hell out of him. Apparently he tried to pull her away when it looked like the Dementor was focusing more on her, but it seemed to be sucking her soul away. He said he felt despair and cold, but it was more frightening watching her soul get sucked out while he held her in his arms. It took a couple of minutes, but Aster and Lee finally managed to convince the two Slytherins that they were fine and they should check on their friends, but they were soon left alone.

Fred and George returned to see Aster's head in Lee's lap, while her legs were stretched out on the bench. Lee was eating the chocolate that the man gave to Aster, and she was sleeping. By the time they got off the train, Aster was leaning against Lee for support, and George was leading her trunk outside with his wand. Running into Kenneth as they walked down the corridor, Kenneth told Aster not to worry about doing any of her Prefect duties right now because he and the other Prefects would all handle it. Apparently Adrian told all of them what happened to her when the Dementors boarded the train, and he made it known that he didn't feel she should be working until she's had a full night of sleep.

Continuing to lean against Lee as they stepped into the carriage, Aster tried to keep herself up and sturdy, but she could feel the Dementors swarming around the campus. They were at Hogwarts, and she was their main priority. "I don't understand how he could do it," she softly muttered against Lee's shoulder.

"You don't understand how who could do what?" Fred asked, watching her from his seat across.

"My uncle," she whispered. "How could he live for twelve years being surrounded by hundreds of those things, when I can't even handle being around one for a minute?"

"He's probably had the time to grow immune to them," George said softly, trying not to think about having to be near those things for too long. "Twelve years and whatnot."

"It could prove his innocence," Lee stated. "I remember hearing something about-"

Whatever Lee remembered hearing though wasn't heard, because he stopped talking once the carriage door opened. "Oh," the same man from the train said, poking his head inside, "This is the last carriage, do you mind if I squeeze in with you four?"

"It's fine," George announced, making sure to move across so he could sandwich Aster in with Lee; leaving his twin to sit next to the man.

"Thanks," he grinned, pulling himself inside and sitting next to an annoyed looking Fred. "You didn't eat all of the chocolate did you?" he asked, noting how weak Aster seemed.

She shook her head. "I ended up falling asleep. I'll eat at the feast though."

"You should go see Madam Pomfrey before heading to the feast," he shook his head. "Only chocolate will bring back your energy."

Aster nodded her head again. "Are you the new Defense professor?"

"Yes, I am," he nodded his head. "I'm Professor Lupin. And you four are?"

"You already know who I am," Aster bit out more harshly than she meant to. "You said my name on the train."

"Aster," Lee rolled his eyes. "He knows your name 'cause he heard us trying to wake you up. And he knew Pucey's name 'cause George tried to hex him for holding on to you so tightly."

"Oh," not noticing the blush taking over George's cheeks, Aster refused to blush in front of this man. She definitely knew him from somewhere, and he definitely smelt like a werewolf. "Sorry. Well in that case, I'm Aster Black."

Professor Lupin nodded his head, but his smile was gone and he quickly looked at the boy to her right. Noticing the eyes on him, Lee grinned, "And I'm Lee Jordan. The ginger next to Aster is George, and the one sitting next to you is Fred."

"Weasleys, right?" when everybody nodded their heads, Professor Lupin chuckled. "I knew you two when you were babies still yet. Matter of a fact I used to watch you along with your other brothers right after Ron was born, so that Molly and Arthur could rest."

"Oh no," Fred groaned, "Another professor who knows Mum."

Chuckling against George, Aster shook her head. "Moments like these make me happy that my dad's dead, and that no one really knows who my mum is. The professors don't have anybody to threaten me with."

"Yeah, but Dumbledore and Mrs. Cole seem pretty cozy," Lee pointed out.

"Not to mention Mum takes you as her eighth child," George rolled his eyes.

"And Mrs. Cole gave McGonagall and Mum permission to beat you with a stick."

Seeing the sudden flash in the new professor's eyes at Fred's words, Aster rolled her own eyes. "Mrs. Cole is the caretaker at the orphanage I grew up in. She doesn't really beat me with a stick, nor does she condone it. She's sort of like a grandmum to me though, so she jokes around about those kinds of things with Mrs. Weasley and Professor McGonagall."

"Aster's the troublemaker of Hogwarts," Fred whispered to the man next to him. "The professors sort of fear her mind for pranking."

"Oi!" Aster tried to kick Fred from where she was sitting. "It's not true, Professor. Compared to these three, I'm the tame one. I _am_ a _Prefect_ after all."

"Don't remind us," Lee groaned. "We almost kicked you out because of it."

"You can't kick me out!" Aster stuck her tongue out at him. "We're the Golden Box for life!"

Professor Lupin nearly had a heart attack at what happened next. The four best friends all stuck their wands high into the air, and shouted with glee, "I solemnly swear!"

Aster watched the man sitting across from her. When she and her friends had repeated the somewhat oath, she noticed that he started to choke and slide out of his seat. Narrowing her eyes at him in suspicion, she listened as his heart began to race uncontrollably. She knew that he could sense they were Animagis – werewolves could sense the animal in them, just as they could sense the demon inside of him. He wasn't mentioning it though; which was as suspicious as suspicions could get. If he was a professor why wasn't he asking them about their secret? And why on earth did he flinch as if he understood the meaning behind their oath?

"It seems like Malfoy's bothering Harry," Fred announced as their carriage slowed down to a stop.

Turning her head so she could look out the door, Aster saw Draco standing with the Golden Trio. "Did you faint as well, Weasley?" she heard Draco sneer. "Did the scary old Dementor frighten you too, Weasley?"

Jumping out when she saw Ron lift his wand at the blonde prat, Aster stepped in front of them, "No, but I did, Draco."

"Yeah, Malfoy, you were there," George glared, making sure he had an arm around Aster so she wouldn't collapse. "Or were you too busy screaming in fear to remember?"

Blushing, Draco scowled at George for bringing up the fact that he screamed then looked apologetically at the older witch he was trying to get to know. "Whatever," he huffed out.

Asking Harry if he was alright, and questioning if he ate all of his chocolate, Aster quickly bid both he and Hermione goodbye when Professor McGonagall called for them to follow her to see Madam Pomfrey. When Fred started to protest that Aster also fainted because of the Dementors, she elbowed him in the ribs, and used both Ron and Neville as leverage to help her into the Great Hall. She looked up and saw Professor Lupin talking to Professor Dumbledore about something. When they turned to look at her however, she quickly looked away and started talking to Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell about their summer holidays.

Vaguely listening to Professor Dumbledore explain about the Dementors staying at Hogwarts, introducing Professor Lupin, and introducing Hagrid as a new professor as well, Aster could have sworn she sensed a fifth Animagus in the school. It couldn't have been Professor McGonagall because she's never sensed her before, and it wasn't the new strange familiar professor either. Looking at her friends, she saw that they sensed it too. They all stared for a couple of seconds, then nodded their heads in silent agreement.

If they were to open up the Marauders Map, they would see that Peter Pettigrew had returned to Hogwarts this year as well.

** Please review guys! It's now 4 chapters in, and I only have 4 reviews, but 11 followers. I thank you guys that did review though(: I really love getting reviews! I'm trying to keep the twins and Lee funny like they were in the books and movies, so I need to know if they're funny enough or not funny enough. I need to know what you guys like or don't like about this story, especially since I never focused on just the twins and Lee before. This is new territory for me. What about Adrian with Aster? Or Draco?**

** I know that Hogwarts has 7th year prefects as well, but the schedule wouldn't have worked with them. Also, I had to make up some of my own people to fill in for the older years, but I was honestly too lazy to create people for 5th year Slytherins, so I just stuck with the three canons. PLEASE REVIEW! I am down on my knees and begging for your thoughts on this story (:**


	5. Letters From Everyone

**A/N: Okay, so it literally just dawned on me that some of the dates were messed up. In canon, Regulus was born in 1961, and Sirius in 1959. Regulus died in 1979, making him only 18 (which I followed in the story)… but I made it where Aster was born in 1978, and her dad was killed when she was only 1 month old. I realize I made a mistake there. I made a typo in the very first chapter of the story, making Regulus die when Aster was 1 MONTH old instead of 1 YEAR old, and the rest of the story just followed that line. I literally went through every single page of this story to fix that up, so now it states that Aster was 1 year old when her dad died and she was taken to the orphanage. I noticed the mistakes when I was editing this chapter, so if anything seems out of place for the rest of the story please let me know and I'll fix it as soon as possible. I already fixed up the chapters before this one, but it's 3 in the morning when I went back to fix every single page, so I know there'll be some mistakes that I haven't fixed up yet!**

Letters From Everyone

Waking up the morning after the feast, Aster felt remotely better. When Professor Lupin realized that Professor McGonagall made sure that only Harry went to see Madam Pomfrey, he practically shoved an entire chocolate bar down her throat while she and Kenneth were showing the first years the way to the Gryffindor tower. After a long night filled with fuzzy dreams, Aster welcomed the sunlight that greeted her through her curtains. Climbing out of bed she opened the curtains all the way and grinned when she saw her owl had returned sometime during the night.

"Hey, boy," Aster greeted the owl with a biscuit from the can next to the windows, "That was a fast trip. Do you have anything for me?" when the owl hooted in reply, and stuck out his leg, Aster began to get excited. Bill replied to her already. Not bothering to get dressed, she sat back down on her bed and folded her legs.

"You coming down for breakfast?" Angelina asked from by the door.

Looking up, Aster noticed that her three roommates were all already dressed and heading down. "In a bit," she shook her head, "This letter's important."

"Alright," Alicia nodded her head. "We'll tell the boys to wait for you."

"Thanks," Aster grinned before turning back to her letter.

_Aster,_

_ I'm surprised to hear from you, but it's always a pleasure. You do know that you can write me for other things and not only when you need something, right? I'm honored that you trust me enough to do this for you, but you do know that you can have anyone do it, right? I can assure you that nothing in your vault is cursed, because the Curse Breaker at that time would have checked each item before it was placed inside of it. It is safe for you to choose anyone that you want to have access to your vault for you. I'm willing to do it for you, if you still want me to, but you can choose literally anyone else. All you need to do is state on a piece of parchment the name of the person you grant access to, and what they have access to, then sign it. There is another way (the goblins could poke me with their wands and draw my blood, then search my mind to make sure you trust me enough to do this) but this is the less painful, and easiest way to do it, so I'm sure whoever you choose would love prefer this choice of action. Just owl the letter back to me and I can get it to Gringotts for you, then owl the other person and give them the details. Goblins don't appreciate receiving owls so much, so this is the safest option for Frost._

_ How are you holding up? Mum told me about the Dementors at Hogwarts, and I know about the whole Ministry watching you thing because of Sirius. Don't let them get to you, alright! You're not your father, nor are you your uncle. Don't focus too much on Harry this year, just look after yourself. And try to stay out of trouble. Don't think you're a bother by writing to me. Be prepared to look for a letter sometime this week from Charlie; he doesn't fancy light purple too much._

_ How are my brothers and sister doing? I never hear from them at all, and I know the twins must be scheming alongside you with whatever you lot are planning. Don't do it – you need to all be safe!_

_ Waiting to hear from you,_

_ Bill_

Smiling at the formality of the letter, Aster's heart began to flutter. She truly was another member of the Weasley family. She's never been a member of a family before, and it was nice. Not bothering with changing or getting ready for breakfast yet, Aster began to quickly write out her letters.

_**I, Aster Oriya Black, grant permission for, William Arthur Weasley, to have complete access to my Gringotts vault. He can enter it at any time he pleases, and he can take out whatever items he wants to. There is no limit to what he wishes to remove from my vault.**_

_** xx **__**Aster Oriya Black**_

Chuckling to herself as she realized Bill would freak out and wonder how she knew his full name, Aster started to write out the second letter.

_ Bill,_

_ Thank you so much for doing this for me. I wrote out the letter to the goblins, and I put your name down. To be honest, I don't really have anyone else I would choose. The twins and Lee are with me in school all year, your dad is constantly busy at work, your mum would never agree to enter someone else's vault (no matter how many times I've offered), Mrs. Cole hates the goblins, and Charlie would start to protest against the dragon that guards my vault. Aside from Mrs. Cole and Lee, the Weasleys are the only family I have and trust, so trust me Bill; I want you to do this for me._

_ I have a ton of pouches in there. For now, I only want all of the ones that don't have the Black family crest on it. If you want one with the crest, feel free to take it – the twins have matching silver ones. Also, I want to start learning more about my dad and his brother this year. I noticed some diaries somewhere in there; could you grab those for me as well? And there's a photo album… it's golden with scarlet colored engravings around it; it's the only Gryffindor-like object in there. Could you get that too?_

_ I'm fine. Harry fainted with the Dementors on the train ride to Hogwarts, but he's alright now. The professors are all making sure to keep a close eye on him this year. Ron and Hermione want to kill each other because of a Kneazle that Hermione just brought who keeps trying to eat Scabbers, and Ginny is still awkward around Harry. Percy's still a prat, and it's worse now that he's Head Boy. The twins and Lee want to disown me because I'm Prefect this year, but we're working through our problems. And as for the Sirius thing, don't worry about me; I'm fine… promise!_

_ I changed the walls back to normal before I left, but I'm looking forward to hearing from Charles. He'll be pleased to hear that Hagrid is the new Care for Magical Creatures professor. I need to get going now, before the twins kill me for making them miss all of breakfast. Thank you again for doing this for me, and it's a relief to know that I'm not bothering you._

_ Thank you,_

_ Aster_

Quickly sending the letters off with Frost, Aster started to change into her uniform. Making sure that she put on her Prefect pin, she grabbed her bag and wand then ran down the stairs. After apologizing for running so late, she and the boys ran to the Great Hall to make sure they were able to eat something before their first class started. Sitting next to Hermione while Fred sat next to her, Aster started to quickly spread jam onto her toast.

"What's Parkinson doing?" Aster questioned, noticing the pug-faced girl pretending to fall down.

"She's mocking Harry for fainting last night," Ron snarled.

"Is Malfoy mocking you too, Harry?" George asked him.

Seeing Harry shake his head, Aster was glad to see that her cousin truly was changing a little bit. "Oi, everybody!" she suddenly called out. Seeing everybody staring at her, she began to wrinkle her nose against her face, and narrowed her eyes into beady little slits, "Who am I?"

"It's Parkinson!" called out Lee as loudly as he could.

The entire Great Hall burst into laughter, while Pansy's face burned a bright red color. Even Draco was laughing from next to his friend; scrunching his own face up to imitate her as well. "Brilliant!" the twins cat called.

"Miss Black!" groaning, Aster turned around to see a fuming professor standing in front of her. "We do not mock the students. You are a Prefect; you need to be setting a better example this year."

Nodding her head, Aster tried to avoid the disappointed look in her professor's eyes. "Yes, Professor."

"Merlin, girl, it's only the first day back to school."

Aster sighed. "Parkinson was making fun of Harry for fainting last night, so I was only giving her a taste of her own medicine."

"That is no excuse to mock other students."

Snickering as Professor McGonagall turned on her heels and began to storm away, Aster caught the confused look from the new professor. Meeting his gaze, she cocked an eyebrow and he quickly turned away. "Well, c'mon guys," she sighed, "We've got Hagrid first."

Hagrid's class was the most fun Aster's ever had in Care for Magical Creatures. Hagrid brought out a group of Hippogriffs, and seeing as nobody else in her class was brave enough to step forward, Aster volunteered. After gaining the creature's trust, she was thrust upon his back and they began to fly around the castle; soaring as high as they could, and taking in water from the Black Lake. Laughing as the beast brought her down, Aster began to hug and pet the beige and light blue colored bird.

"It likes you," Adrian said from next to her.

Smiling as she continued to pet it, Aster said, "You've got to bow, Pucey or it'll attack you."

"Good job, Pucey!" Hagrid belted out from across the way where he was trying to prevent a Hippogriff from taking off Montague's arm.

"It seems to like you as well," Aster grinned.

Adrian chuckled. "So it seems. But I'm not riding it."

"Oh, c'mon, I've seen you play Quidditch in our third year. A Hippogriff isn't any worse than a broom."

"Says the girl who refuses to get on a broom," Adrian laughed at her, also petting the now purring creature.

"Exactly! If I can ride a Hippogriff, when I refuse to even ride a broom, you can ride a Hippogriff as well."

"Nope," Adrian shook his head, "I'm not getting on that thing."

"This _thing_ has a name," Aster rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah, well, what is it?"

"I don't know," Aster shrugged her shoulders. "How about Witherwings?"

"You're naming it _Witherwings_?"

"Do you have a better name for it?"

"No," Adrian smirked, running one of his hands through his god-like hair. "I like Witherwings."

Laughing as a giant head knocked against Adrian's chest and began to nuzzle against it, Aster grinned, "And Witherwings likes you too."

Chuckling and shaking his head in amusement at Aster's antics, Adrian began to look around the forest they were currently standing in. His eyes met the glare of one of the Weasley twins, and he turned back to watch the now laughing witch. Something flashed in his mind as he met the heated glare once again, but Adrian ignored it and turned his attention back to Aster. "So, you seem to be better this morning?"

"Professor Lupin caught up with me last night while Kenneth and I were showing the first years to our tower, and he practically shoved a chocolate bar down my throat," Aster nodded her head; blushing a bit. "I still can't believe I fainted."

"Don't worry 'bout it too much," he told her, gently nudging her shoulder with his own, "By next week no one will even remember it."

"That's the thing that worries me," not realizing that she was chewing on her bottom lip, Aster crossed her arms over her chest and sort of leaned against the Hippogriff she named Witherwings. "Everybody knows 'bout me fainting, but only Montague mentioned it. Everybody else seems to be too busy mocking Harry to even bring up my incident."

"Well, that's because he's Potter," Adrian rolled his eyes. "Everyone _always_ goes on about everything that Potter does. I never figured you for the type of girl who wanted attention."

Staring past Adrian, Aster saw the twins and Lee calling her over to them. Hearing the flirtatious tone that her supposed-to-be-enemy was using on her, Aster sighed and smiled up at him through her long eyelashes. "See you tonight, Pucey," then she walked away.

Finally telling her friends that that night was her first night of patrolling, with Adrian Pucey, Aster waited with bated breath and shut eyes for them to start making fun of her, but instead she saw something else – something that she didn't quite understand. Confused as to why George ignored her while they walked to Transfiguration, Aster tried not to think about why no one was teasing her the way they teased Harry for fainting – her uncle was on the run from Azkaban, and nobody wanted to chance becoming on his radar for teasing his niece. Scoffing to herself as she thought about how Sirius Black wouldn't care what anyone did to her, Aster copied down whatever Professor McGonagall was telling them.

"You've got another owl," Katie announced as she flopped down onto her own bed. When Aster lifted her head from where she was sitting on the floor of their room, she saw the large tawny owl that her friend, and roommate, was pointing at. "Aren't you a popular one today," Katie grinned with a teasing smile.

"You know me," Aster replied with a teasing haughty smirk while dramatically flipping her hair over her shoulder, and turning her nose high into the air. "I just reel them in to the point where they start to stalk me."

Laughing, Katie playfully threw a pillow at her. "Oi, did you hear about Trelawney's third year class?"

"Let me guess," Aster rolled her eyes, gently accepting the letter from the owl, "Harry's the one who's going to die?"

"I didn't know you were a Seer, Aster," Katie grinned. "You shouldn't have dropped outta that class; now your potential will never be realized."

"Oh, how can I go on?"

Continuing to laugh, Katie shook her head and started to take her books out of her bag. "I can't believe we got homework the first night. At least Hagrid's class was fun," then Katie started to stare at her friend in a way that had Aster's cheeks burning red. Leaning forward on her bed, Katie's teeth were beginning to show from how wide she was smiling. "Speaking of Hagrid's class… you and Pucey seemed to be getting along pretty well."

"I was teasing him 'cause he didn't want to ride the Hippogriff," Aster shrugged her shoulders, playing with the edge of the letter that she already knew was from Charlie.

Not believing a thing that Aster was telling her, Katie sarcastically nodded her head, "Oh, right, and the sexual tension between you two was not attracting attention from all of us."

Aster gasped. "There's no sexual tension between us, Katie."

"Right," Katie only grinned though. "Read your letter, Aster. Wouldn't want one of your callers to wait any longer, now would we? Especially when you have to turn them down for a certain hot Slytherin."

Staring at Katie for a few seconds, Aster finally said, "I'm patrolling with Pucey tonight, Katie. I could see if he feels the same way 'bout you too, ya' know. I'm always willing to help a friend in need."

"The day that Adrian Pucey takes his eyes off of you long enough to even glance at one of us, is the day that I will gladly swoop him up from right under your nose. But until that day comes, we mere peasants can only dream."

Trying not to burst into a hyperventilating type of laughter at what Katie just said, Aster shook her head, "You're too much, Katie."

_Kiddo,_

_ Really? Light purple? Really? Please tell me that you at least changed it back before leaving for Hogwarts? I don't care if you stole all of my clothes from my drawers, turned my bed into some sort of net-like thing that some muggles like to sleep on, or if you allowed the twins to search the room… you could've chosen pink or even yellow or something, but light purple? Really? I thought we were friends, Aster, I took you like a little sister. Do you not remember the time that I took you to Diagon Alley with me so you could buy something for a little boy in your orphanage that was being adopted later that night? I left the comfort of my room (pale blue room) in the Burrow just to pick you up from the orphanage, and take you into Diagon Alley to make this possible. Then you go and do this to me? I feel abandoned and betrayed! And I have to find out from Bill of all people! See if I let you anywhere near that room again…_

_ Mum, Dad, and Bill have all owled me and told me about your little predicament. You're lucky that I'm not petty enough to ignore the situation just because you've betrayed my trust. We had something, Aster! Don't be daft and go looking for Sirius Black – you'll only end up getting killed, or in Azkaban. I can't kill you for besmirching my beautiful pale blue walls if you're already dead or in Azkaban. I also heard about you fainting on the train ride to Hogwarts: one of the boys in the compartment across from yours owled his older brother who works with me. I'm getting real sick of having to find out important things from other people, you know._

_ Are you feeling better? I can't safely work with dragons while wondering if you're getting your soul sucked out, or being killed by your uncle. Be careful, will ya?_

_ Well, I gotta go now, a baby dragon is being born and I have to help deliver it. Keep in touch this year, because I'll be writing you a lot!_

_ Love ya kiddo,_

_ Charlie_

Covering her mouth with her hands to keep from laughing too hard, Aster re-read the letter at least ten times. Charlie Weasley was insane! She'd known him since her first year. Not only was he at the Burrow all those times that she would go over during the summer holidays, but he was also in his seventh year at Hogwarts during her first year, so she became close to him while hanging out with his younger brothers. He seemed to like her because she reminded him a bit of himself and his older brother Bill. Charlie was definitely comfortable around her, and she was nowhere near shy with him. Charlie was the annoying older brother that she never had: he insisted on calling her 'Kiddo,' he always ruffled her hair when he saw her, and he teased her relentlessly. Yeah, Charlie Weasley was her mental older brother!

_Charles,_

_ Thanks for the permission to do all of the things I've already done. See, deep down I knew you wouldn't mind if I brought a couple of your old t-shirts to Hogwarts to sleep in, I didn't turn the bed into a hammock; although you and Bill now share one giant bed! And you should have already expected the twins to ransack your room once you and Bill gave permission for _me_ to sleep in there. I don't understand your hatred towards light purple. I think pink would look lovely on your walls though, I know a permanent charm that can take care of it you know, but I'm not explaining that one to Bill – you'll have to do it. Yes, I changed it back, so stop groveling. And yes, I do remember that time. I seem to recall being too late to say goodbye to Ryan, and using the pranks on Mrs. Cole instead – you're still not allowed at the orphanage by the way._

_ Merlin's Beard, you are a grown man! We do not have a thing, Charles, no matter how much you beg – it is illegal! You need to wait at least another two years. And suck it up, light purple won't kill you. _

_ I didn't tell you about the train thing because I didn't tell anybody. I'm fine; the new DADA professor forced me to eat chocolate. I'm right as a whistle. Did your friend's brother also tell them that Harry fainted? I'd be more worried about him. Sirius won't harm me, Charles, if anything he just wants me to join the dark side; it's Harry that he most likely wants revenge on. Ministry talk is so dreary, let's talk about something else instead…_

_ I got a new tattoo this summer; three of them actually. A new boy at the orphanage is learning to become a tattoo artist, so I let him practice on me. I think you'll really like the one on the entire inside of my left forearm. It's a phrase I remember you telling me in my first year at Hogwarts:_

"**To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight; and never stop fighting"**

___The other two aren't important right now._

_ I've got to go now; it's my first night patrolling. Oh yeah, have you heard? I'm Prefect this year! Percy nearly had a heart attack when he found out – thought I'd besmirch the Prefect legacy or whatever. Anyway, I don't want Pucey to kill me for being late on our first night. Good luck with the whole mid-wife thing!_

_ Love,_

_ Aster_

Quickly sending the letter back with the owl that Charlie sent to her, Aster pulled on a pair of long blue jeans, and a threw on a red and white letterman's jacket that Jimmy gave to her over the summer holidays. Because Jimmy was already six foot five at only sixteen years old, and Aster was only five foot eight, the jacket reached her thighs. Not bothering with buttoning the jacket up, Aster stuck her wand inside of her bra; allowing it to poke out from the plain white tank-top she was wearing. She didn't bother to brush her hair while running downstairs into the corridor. Only seeing Lee and Fred as she ran past them, Aster quickly shouted that she had to patrol and she would see them when she returned.

"Sorry I'm late," nearly crashing into Adrian as she came to a stop, Aster was panting and trying to scoop all of her hair up into an annoying bun. "I got caught up in writing a letter and didn't realize what time it was."

Chuckling, Adrian held out his hands to make sure she was sturdy. "You're only a minute late," he told her. "To be honest, I just showed up right before you did."

"Well aren't we the perfect combination for patrolling Hogwarts," Aster snickered. "Did you see Kenneth? I didn't notice him in the common room when I ran out."

Adrian nodded his head. "They just left to go patrol the other side other side of the castle. Tyler was waiting for us when Montague and I showed up. He seemed annoyed that he was stuck with Montague, but he told me that you were stuck doing something and you would be a little late."

"Ahh," Aster grinned, "The loyalty of my house. Only a true Gryffindor would make up an excuse for me being late without me knowing about it… or what it is."

"Tyler does seem kind of fond of you," Adrian nodded his head in a teasing agreement.

"Well, isn't this just the night for confessions of the crushes?"

Adrian's flirtatious smile dropped, and his eyes slightly narrowed. "Oh. Did Weasley finally admit his undying love for you then?"

"WHAT?" stopping in her tracks, Aster's eyes were wide like a deer's caught in headlights. Staring at Adrian as if she's never seen him before, Aster felt something stirring inside of her. She felt nauseated and lightheaded. Adrian also stopped walking and turned to face her. He seemed confused by her ghastly expressions. "What are you talking about, Pucey?"

"You mean Weasley didn't confess anything?" when Aster continued to only stare at him, Adrian paled as well. "Oh, well…" he began to scratch the back of his neck. "See… I… err, well, you said – and I thought that… erm…"

"What the hell are you on about, Pucey?" Aster glared at him. "Fred and George are my best friends. They're like brothers to me; they don't think of me like that."

"Right," he gulped, slowly nodding his head, "Yeah… you're right. Err, sorry. Don't know what I was thinking," Adrian stood there, slightly leaning back on the heels of his feet. Staring at the annoyed witch in front of him, Adrian began to uncomfortably scratch at his hair once more. He cleared his throat. "We should probably get to patrolling."

"Yeah," folding her arms over her chest, Aster started to walk again.

After five minutes of awkward silence, Adrian cleared his throat once more. "So you said something about confessions of crushes?"

"Huh?" looking away from where she was watching the Grey Lady disappear into a wall, Aster saw the hopeful look on Adrian's face. "Oh, right. No, I was only saying that because another reason I was late is because I was talking to Katie."

"Bell?"

Aster nodded her head. "She seems to be quite infatuated with you."

"Really?"

Watching Adrian's face for any sign of being pleased at the thought of Katie being infatuated with him, Aster noticed his expression didn't change at all. "She seems to think you're hot."

"Really?" Adrian seemed passive for a few seconds, and then he started to laugh loudly. "Gryffindor girls thinking I'm hot, eh?"

Aster smirked, "Don't get your knickers all in a twist, Pucey. I said, Katie, not all of my roommates. One Gryffindor girl doesn't suddenly mean _all_ of Gryffindor."

"Sure it doesn't," Adrian smirked back. "And what were you girls talking about to suddenly bring up how hot I am?"

Blushing now, Aster tried to turn away before he could see her burning cheeks but it was useless, he saw her and started to smirk even more. "So, should I tell her that you two are dating now, or are you going to break the poor girl's heart?"

"Just make sure you let her down gently," Adrian pouted, placing his hands over his heart.

Feeling her heart flutter with relief, Aster tried not showing how excited she really was. She wanted to say something to defend her friend to the point where Adrian decided to give Katie a chance, but she found herself saying, "So Kenneth, huh?" instead.

"I was only teasing you."

The rest of patrolling seemed to go by just fine. They laughed about the professors, and how pompous Percy was always acting, and they even managed to catch a couple of fourth year Ravenclaws – which they had fun assigning a detention with Filch – and there were no more awkward conversations about crushes, secret desires, or anything that brought them anywhere near the topic of a boy and a girl being alone together. By the time they met up with their other house partner at the end of the hour, things were normal between them again. Kenneth grabbed Aster's hand and started to pull her away, while muttering about killing Montague for even existing, that Aster barely heard Adrian shout her name then wink while shouting, "Oh, and for the record, I don't wear any knickers."

The next morning there were rumors all over the castle about how Draco Malfoy was lying in the hospital wing because an angry Hippogriff attacked him. Nobody seemed to care about Harry or the Dementors anymore, because they were all too busy either pitying Draco for being attacked, or cursing Draco for being such a git. Aster found herself always watching the twins now too. Why would Adrian say something about one of them fancying her? They didn't fancy her, obviously, but what did they do that would give Adrian that opinion? Noticing that George was gloomier than usual, Aster followed the boys into Professor Lupin's class.

They barely had time to sit down before Professor Lupin made them all stand back up and follow him out of the classroom. Everyone in the class was muttering about what was happening as the new professor led them down the corridor. "Did you hear 'bout Malfoy?"

Nodding her head at Kenneth who was now walking with her and her best friends, Aster sneered, "Harry was telling us all about it this morning. It seems like he deserved what he got."

"Hermione was telling us last night that it wasn't even more than a scratch," Fred was also looking annoyed.

"Montague was telling me that Malfoy is already talking 'bout owling his father to get Hagrid fired, and having the Hippogriff executed," Kenneth added in a low tone.

"Oh, is that why you were trying to hex him last night?" Aster suddenly asked him. "I just figured he was being his usual arse of a self."

Grinning when he heard Aster say something horrible about Montague, George put his arm around her, and shook his head. "I heard Ron and Seamus complaining this morning about Malfoy only doing that because the Hippogriff seemed to really like Harry."

"Oi, Black," hearing George groan when Adrian made his way into their tiny little group, Aster noticed he didn't bother with taking his arm off of her. "So I take it you heard 'bout Draco and the Hippogriff?"

Aster nodded her head. "It seems like my cousin is still a prat no matter how hard he's trying with me."

"Well, I figured you'd like to know that it's Witherwings."

Aster's jaw dropped. "What?"

Adrian nodded his head. "I stopped by the hospital wing this morning to check on Draco, and I asked him which one it was, 'cause when we had our lesson they all seemed fine. He described Witherwings to me."

Lee looked at Adrian as if he were more insane than usual. "The Hippogriff's name is Buckbeak."

"Buckbeak?" Aster scoffed, not noticing the incredulous looks she was getting from her friends. "He matches Witherwings more."

Chuckling, Adrian followed them into the professors' lounge. "Montague was telling me last night that Malfoy's gonna write to his father so the Hippogriff is executed," Kenneth told the Slytherin.

"I don't know," Adrian shrugged his shoulders, "Draco didn't tell me that, but then again I don't really shove my nose up his arse like the other Slytherins do. I can find out for you though."

Nodding her head, Aster smiled, "Thanks."

"Alright," Professor Lupin cleared his throat, stepping in front of a wardrobe. Everybody else seemed to be in awe at the idea of being inside of the lounge, but the Golden Box didn't look around in wonder like their peers did – they've snuck in here too many times to be amazed by it. "There is a boggart in this closet," the professor announced as the wardrobe began to shake.

Montague eyed the wardrobe wearily, and the twins sort of pulled Aster further away from it. "A boggart?" Aster questioned.

"Yes, Miss Black," Professor Lupin smiled kindly. "Can anybody here tell me what a boggart is?"

Warrington from Slytherin gave a snort, "A shape-shifter."

"Three points to Slytherin for that very vague answer," the professor chuckled, "But yes, Mr.-"

"Warrington," Alicia Spinnet sneered. "His name is Warrington. But that doesn't really answer the question. So this boggart thing can take different forms?"

"That's exactly what a shape-shifter is, Spinnet!" Warrington smirked from across the room. "I figured that even the muggle world would know what a shape-shifter is."

"Right," Professor Lupin interrupted before the Gryffindor and Slytherin could get into a heated wand fight. "Yes, Ms. Spinnet, a shape-shifter is something that can take form of anything it wishes, but what a boggart does is it takes the form of your inner most fears."

Suddenly Aster realized why her friends pulled her away from the shaking wardrobe. "Professor?" she raised her hand. When he looked at her, she asked, "Why are we facing our fears today?"

"Because you have to face them eventually," the serious tone in his voice matched the one in his eyes, and the entire class fell silent, "Although, this isn't more-so about facing our fears than it is about learning how to defend yourself against a boggart. A boggart has the ability to make you lose your inhibitions; it will force you to become succumbed into the reality of the fear you are seeing until there is nothing left of your mind. You will die of fright in the most literal sense."

"Oh."

Aster leaned further into George, and she could feel his heart racing. "There's an upside to learning about it today, though isn't there, Professor?"

"Precisely, Mr. Weasley. A boggart takes form from the most frightening image in your mind and since there are so many of us here today, it won't know which form to take and after a while it will become confused by all of your fears. What should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake – tried to frighten two people at once and turned itself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening."

Hearing the professor describe what he once witnessed, Aster felt herself frowning. When she first entered her vault in Gringotts, Professor Dumbledore gave her some time to search through her dad's things. She didn't spend more than half an hour browsing through things that day, but she remembered opening a diary filled with fancy cursive writing. There was a description in there about her dad and his brother sneaking into a room with three of her uncle's friends. There was a boggart in the desk in that room, and it turned into half a slug. Her father feared headless corpses, and her uncle apparently feared flesh eating slugs. "What's wrong?" Lee asked, noticing his friend's sudden dark look.

Lowering her voice so the students around them couldn't hear her, Aster cocked an eyebrow in Professor Lupin's direction. "The two people he saw the slug confront were my dad and uncle. The new professor was friends with my uncle."

"You're sure?" Fred questioned.

Seeing the way the professor narrowed his eyes at the now whispering group, Aster nodded her head. "I'm very sure."

"Miss Black!" Professor Lupin suddenly barked. His tone was no longer friendly, and his eyes were darkened. Aster knew that because of his werewolf hearing he could hear her, but she wouldn't allow him to scare her. He was once a friend of her uncle's; right now he was as much an enemy as the Ministry was. "You'll be the first to practice on the boggart today."

Lee stepped up. "I wouldn't mind going first, Professor."

"Five points from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn," he growled at Lee. "Miss Black, if you will," nodding her head, Aster stepped up in front of the wardrobe. "There is a charm that repels the boggart," the professor informed the class. "The charm will turn the boggart from your worst nightmare into something funny. Laughter is the only thing that can destroy a boggart. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please – _riddikulus_!"

"_Riddikulus_!" the class said together.

"Good, very good. Now, Miss Black, I want you to think of what terrifies you the most. You have that vantage over the boggart – you know what to expect of it," Aster searched her mind for the thing that frightened her the most, and she remembered that horrid clown that one of the boys in the orphanage from when she was five years old had with him. She's been deadly terrified of clowns since then, and even went into a full blown panic attack at a birthday party one of the foster homes threw for her on her eighth birthday. The clown showed up out of nowhere and began blowing balloons then she started to scream, cry, attack the clown, and she even tried to jump into the swimming pool just to get away from it. Clowns were very frightening things. "Are you picturing it?" Aster nodded her head. "Good, what is it?"

"A clown," she shuddered, not even wanting to imagine that horrid grinning painted thing.

Montague let out a loud laugh while the rest of the class merely chuckled at her confession. Professor Lupin stared down for her a bit, and then cocked his eyebrow. "Is it really?" when she nodded her head again, he shook his own, "Very well then. Now I want you to picture something funny in your mind. What is the funniest thing you've ever seen?"

Glancing over at Lee, Aster watched as he made swimming motions and she grinned. He came to visit her at the orphanage during the summer before their third year, and Mrs. Cole took all of the kids to the pool that day. Lee was banned from the orphanage that day because he started laughing so hard when he saw Mrs. Cole step out of the changing room with a yellow bathing suit on. The bathing suit was covered with white polka-dots and it had white frilly lace on the bottom part of it. Lee laughed so hard that he almost drowned one of the little kids. "Mrs. Cole in a bathing suit," Aster announced to the class.

"Mrs. Cole?"

"The caretaker at the orphanage," Aster nodded her head. "The funniest thing I've ever seen is Mrs. Cole wearing a bathing suit."

"That's funny," Lee laughed from the side where he was standing, "Mrs. Cole wearing a bathing suit is my worst _nightmare_."

Calming the class down as they all burst into laughter, Professor Lupin seemed to be chuckling as well. "Well, what I want you to do, Miss Black, is think of the clown when the boggart comes out of the wardrobe. Once it takes its form, you need to picture the bathing suit and only the bathing suit inside of your mind. Then you must hold your wand in front of you, and shout out the charm. Practice it once more."

"_Riddikulus_!"

"Very good," Professor Lupin barely smiled at her. "Are you ready?"

Aster nodded her head, and the professor released the boggart while shouting for everyone to form a line behind her. Just as she predicted, Aster found herself staring at the same bloody clown from her eighth birthday. It was six feet tall, with big red shoes on its giant feet, and had a big red nose. Its face was painted white, with its big stupid red grin and its rainbow colored hair. Wearing a one piece jumper that looked like a rainbow colored parachute, the clown started to walk towards her; its shoes squeaking with each step. Taking in a deep breath, Aster heard the evil laughter coming from the clown, but soon the clown began to take a new form: a form of something from a memory she didn't even know she had. The parachute jumper turned into a long black cloak, and its big red shoes turned into normal black shoes. The paint on its face, and big red grin, soon turned into a golden colored mask. The students behind her all started to gasp, and there was a girlish scream from directly behind her.

Aster felt the professor's clammy hand on her shoulder, ready to pull her away, but then she remembered the incantation. Lifting her wand she shouted, "_Riddikulus_!" and the black cloak turned into the bathing suit from the day at the pool.

Lee was the first one to laugh at the sight of the masked man in front of them wearing a hideous bathing suit. Everyone else followed after. Aster didn't laugh though. She didn't understand why that masked man was her worst fear when she didn't even know who or what he was. "Montague," the professor called, "You're up next."

Aster went to the back of the line, and she saw the masked man wearing the bathing suit turn into a giant hairy spider. _"R-Riddikulus_!" the spider started to tap dance while playing a bagpipe.

"Adrian, it's your turn."

There was a centaur. _"Riddikulus_!" the centaur was now wearing a diaper and shooting arrows with hearts on it like a baby cupid.

"Katie!" there was Frankenstein who soon started to rollerblade. "Warrington!" a snake that turned into a poodle balloon animal. "Lee!" like with Katie's fear, only the ones with muggle blood understood the irony when they saw a tiny little doll with a sewed up face holding a knife in his hand. When Lee shouted the incantation though, the little Chucky doll soon had a pacifier in his mouth, a bib around his neck, and a rattle in his hand.

The boggart was starting to get confused with all of the laughter and people in the room, and it started to only get funnier. Aster felt tears in her eyes when she watched as Alicia turned the werewolf into a little Chihuahua. "Did you see Lupin's face at that one?" George asked with a whisper into her ear. "He's probably going to avoid Alicia at all costs now."

Laughing with George, Aster heard the professor shout the spell then send the boggart back into the wardrobe. "Enough!" he then shouted at the class. "All of you were great. Five points to everyone who went up. You can all go back to the classroom to grab your things then you're dismissed. I want a five inch essay on boggarts by Friday. Miss Black, can I speak with you?"

Hearing Aster groan, Lee rubbed her arm. "I'll run to the class and grab your things."

"Can you grab mine as well?" George asked their best friend. "I'm going to wait right outside for Aster."

Nodding their heads, Lee and Fred left with the rest of the class. "It won't be that long, Mr. Weasley," Professor Lupin assured George.

"I'll be right outside, Aster."

"Okay," once her friend was out of the lounge, Aster turned to her professor, "Yes, Professor?"

It was evident from the look in his eyes that the professor wanted to ask her how she knew that he was once friends with her uncle, or what she and George meant by him avoiding Alicia. It wasn't possible that they knew he was a werewolf. "About your fear…"

"Oh, that man in the mask and cloak?" Aster asked, scratching her arm. "Sorry, I don't know why that happened. I don't even know what that was. I think it may have sensed someone else's fear and it got crossed in with my clown."

"So you don't know why it chose that form?"

"No," Aster shook her head.

"I noticed that it started out as a clown, but after it got closer to you it instantly changed its form. A boggart only feeds on your worst fear, Miss Black. Subconsciously you must fear that person more than you fear clowns."

"But I don't even know who that was, or why they were wearing a mask," Aster was still scratching her arm, and looking confused. "I've been scared of clowns ever since the Robinsons threw me my eighth birthday party though. They were the family I stayed with the longest. I was with them for six whole months, and they brought me a clown for my birthday. I mean I've been scared of clowns ever since Jonah brought that creepy looking doll with him to the orphanage when we were five, but that birthday party really made it worse with a live clown instead of just a doll."

Professor Lupin stared at her with hardened eyes for a minute, then his expression softened and he looked thoughtful. "That masked man wearing the cloak was a Death Eater, Miss Black."

"What?" Aster's jaw dropped. Her heart was racing.

"I take it you know what a Death Eater is?"

"Don't mock me, Professor," she scowled at him. "You know very well that I've heard of them, just as you know very well whose daughter I am. Just because my dad was a Death Eater though, doesn't mean I know what they look like. I know it's so hard to believe, but I was a year old when he died, and I was a year old when I was taken to the orphanage in a muggle town. People seem to forget that I am _not _a follower of Voldemort's, so I'm sorry to disappoint you, but no, I do not know what a Death Eater looks like."

Leaving the professor with a dropped jaw, Aster left the lounge and grabbed her things from Lee. Telling her friends that she didn't feel so good, Aster went to the Gryffindor tower by herself and stayed in her room for the rest of the night. She was beyond pissed off. How dare the werewolf assume that she knew the Death Eater just because she's a Death Eater's daughter! She knows he hates her by the way he looks at her, and addresses her compared to the rest of the class, but how dare he! It isn't as if he's the prime citizen! He's a bloody werewolf after all. Feeling all sorts of emotions running through her, Aster clenched her fists into balls. He's a bloody werewolf. Voldemort had werewolves following his every bid. She knew from that one short passage in her dad's diary that Professor Lupin was friends with Sirius Black. What if the newest professor was working with Peter Pettigrew? What if they both worked together to kill the Potters and frame her uncle?

At that exact moment, Frost flew into her window. Quickly thanking her owl, Aster ripped the letter from him and started to quickly read what Bill had to write.

_Aster,_

_ That's a lot of trust that you have for me. Thank you for trusting me with complete access to your vault. I promise I'll live up to that trust. I'm off on Friday, so I'll take the letter in to Gringotts then, so I can spend all day looking for everything you asked for. Give it about a week before you get your items. My friend has a large owl that he's willing to loan to me so I can send you everything in a large box. He doesn't know what I'm grabbing for you; only that you need a lot of items from your vault. Thanks for the offer on the pouch, but I assure you I do not need a Black engraved pouch. I swear my brothers are the only wizards I know who would gladly go around using the pouch of another family. And Lee as well… you four must be hell to go to Hogwarts with._

_ What do you mean _Harry _fainted on the train ride to Hogwarts? According to my sources, he isn't the only one! And why would Hermione's Kneazle keep attacking Scabbers? Kneazles only attack things that can't be trusted – they're very protective of their owner, and owner's loved ones. If the Kneazle is attacking Scabbers then that rat must be doing something wrong. Ginny will always be awkward around Harry. Please don't talk about Percy being Head Boy; I had to live with that all summer. And _what_!? Dumbledore actually trusts _you_ to be a Prefect? That's a miracle. Congratulations though. I can only imagine what Hogwarts is going to go through now._

_ I don't believe you that you're fine. And I can't believe Hagrid is a professor now; that's so weird, but I'm happy for him._

_ You're lucky I'm really tired right now, or I'd write a long letter asking more questions and insisting on the truth from you about certain details you're leaving out._

_ Love,_

_ Bill_

Perfect! She only had to wait a week before she got the photo album that belonged to her uncle, and her father's diaries. Hopefully she'll be able to prove that Professor Lupin helped Peter Pettigrew to frame her uncle for the murder of Harry's parents, and then everything will get better. Aster decided to write one last letter to Bill before waiting for an entire week.

_Bill,_

_ Of course I trust you. I trust you with my life. Which says a lot!_

_ Thanks again for helping me out with this, and thank your friend for allowing you to use his owl! It's late over here, and I'm tired, so this is a really short letter. But thanks, and again… don't worry about me. I didn't mention me fainting because it isn't a big deal. Charles told you, didn't he? The big mouthed prat! Next time I'm turning your room pink with yellow polka-dots._

_ Love,_

_ Aster_

**Please review! It's going to start getting more intense from this chapter on! And I really do love reviews! Thanks to those of you did(:**


	6. Heroes No More

**Sorry I haven't uploaded in a long time. There were a lot of personal things going on and I sort of just stayed away from uploading for a while. I couldn't manage to write for my other stories and it sort stopped me from just uploading for this story as well. I'm back now though, and here it is(:**

**Also, this chapter is going to be when it starts to sort of sway from canon – sort of… Aster starts reading her dad's diary entries and lets just say there's Marauder bashing from this chapter on. Sorry if you guys don't like it, and I DO love the Marauders (especially Sirius; he's my favorite) but they were also sort of pricks to Snape, and I played with that for this story to make them pick on Regulus as well. You'll see, but I just figured I'd warn you guys that there is bashing in general starting from this chapter on…**

Heroes No More

"So do you know what you what you want to do after Hogwarts?"

The halls were filled with its usual nightly silence, and Aster was patrolling with Cedric. This was their second patrol together, and she already found herself constantly being drawn to these nights. He was a nice guy, and he was fun to talk to. "Not really," she shook her head, "I was sort of thinking of becoming a Healer. Mrs. Cole has this friend who's a doctor, and he's willing to give me a summer job at his office as an assistant."

"That's cool," Cedric smiled. Looking at him, Aster could see why girls were normally so drawn to him, but she didn't find herself in awe of the way his dimples flashed every time he smiled. "I was actually thinking of becoming a doctor as well. I mean, in the muggle world, not the wizarding world."

"Really?"

Cedric nodded his head. "Growing up both in the wizarding world and the muggle world, I've seen the difference in the two types of healing, and although I think the magical way of healing is pretty cool, I'd rather spend my time trying to heal the muggles who need more doctors than our worlds. I mean, and don't tell Madam Pomfrey this," Aster smiled her promise that she'd keep his secret, "All you need to do is wave a wand and force down a potion in order to heal a magical patient, but the muggle doctors – well, it's a race against time, and I feel like I'd be doing more by helping them."

Aster found herself grinning at Cedric's explanation, "Finally, someone who sees it my way. It's sort of hard to explain it to people when they only see one point of view, but it's nice to have someone on my side."

Cedric chuckled. "You know, I honestly thought you were going to say you wanted to own a joke shop or something like that."

"Why?"

"Well, when I heard Professor McGonagall busting the twins over something earlier today, she told them they needed to start thinking about their futures. One of them mentioned they were going to open their own joke shop."

"Oh Merlin," Aster rolled her eyes. She knew that it was Fred who opened his mouth, and she also knew that he nearly gave McGonagall a heart attack when he spilled their secret to their head of house, "A Weasleys' prank shop – just what we all need."

Sitting between George and Lee at breakfast, Aster yawned into her orange juice. Fred sat across from them with Angelina, and the two of them were both going over plans on how to murder Oliver in his sleep. They've only been in school for two weeks, and he was already trying to kill them with Quidditch practices… and the season didn't even start yet. Listening to Angelina hiss that if Oliver shoved a Quidditch play-book under her nose one more time, she would show him a new place to keep a broom, Aster ate her bowl of porridge. Lee and George both teased her for her odd way of eating it, but they handed her the ingredients without any instructions: brown sugar, white sugar, honey, and chocolate milk. It was weird how she ate her porridge, and it disgusted most of her house, but after five years of being with her they were all used to it by bow. Aster refused to eat her porridge if just one of those ingredients were missing.

Going over her conversation with Cedric the night before, Aster didn't notice the large white owl, which looked to be the size of at least three normal barn owls, until it landed in front of her. "That looks like Xavier!" Ron exclaimed from the other side of the table, where he was sitting with Harry and Hermione. "Why would Bill be writing to you, Aster?"

Grinning as she realized that this box was filled with the items from her vault, Aster quickly fed the owl a piece of toast then sent it up to her room to rest before having to fly all the way back to Egypt. The poor thing must be tired after having to fly all that way with the large box. "That, my dear Ron, is none of your business."

"Why _is _our brother writing to you?" Fred questioned, cautiously staring at the box from across the table.

Grinning, Aster stood up then grabbed the box. "He sends us presents."

"Oooh," Ron called out again, "I like presents."

"Not these kind, Ickle Ronnikins!" Aster teased him. "Now c'mon, Fredrick, Georgie Porgie, Leeward!"

Lee groaned while standing up, "You need to come up with better names, Aster, this Leeward thing doesn't even make sense."

"At least you're not Georgie Porgie," George scowled but stood up as well.

Fred laughed from where he was still sitting with Angelina. "Nothing could be as bad as Periwinkle the Pig."

Hearing what her brother said as she walked past them, Ginny started to laugh out loud. "At least Percy shuts up when you call his name, now."

"We'll explain on the walk to the room," Aster told a confused looking Lee, "Now, c'mon, I want to see what Bill sent me."

Bill sent her a letter explaining that it would take at least an extra week to send everything to her, because he was having some problems finding certain things that she wanted, but Aster didn't mind waiting. Of course she wanted it sooner so she could prove that Professor Lupin was once a friend of her uncle's, but she could wait for as long as it took Bill to find the items. He was doing her a favor by even searching for them, so she wouldn't hold it against him every day that she had to wait.

Kenneth was sitting on his bed when they all entered the boys' room. Already used to seeing Aster in there more than usual, he didn't say anything about a girl being in a boys' room. Nor did he get any weird ideas when she instantly sat down on George's bed. "Oi, Aster," when she turned to look at him, he asked, "How was patrol last night?"

"Not too bad," she shrugged her shoulders.

"I heard that Eileen hexed Montague," Kenneth grinned.

Laughing, Aster nodded her head. "Oh, yeah, that was funny. Cedric and I just caught two Slytherin first years roaming around the halls, when we heard Montague shrieking. Telling the first years to run to their common room, we followed the screams. I guess he tried to grope Eileen or something, so she gave him breasts. I had to stun Cedric just to keep him from killing Montague."

"Aww," Kenneth pouted, "You're no fun. Why didn't you just let Diggory get him?"

"Cause then Cedric would've gotten into trouble, and I actually like patrolling with him."

Kenneth rolled his eyes. "I can't wait to see Eileen tomorrow night. Do you mind patrolling with Pucey so I can get every single detail from her?" Aster started to blush, and Kenneth began to laugh. Climbing out of his bed he grabbed his bag and shook his head. "What am I saying? Of course you wouldn't mind patrolling with Pucey. Do you think tomorrow night he'll shout out his preference of body soap this time?"

"What was that about?" Lee asked with a quirked eyebrow after Kenneth walked out of the room, still laughing loudly to himself.

Trying to hide her blush as she remembered that Adrian shouted out that he didn't wear any knickers after their first night of patrolling, Aster avoided answering Lee's question. "So, I know what Bill sent us."

"Yeah," Fred said, folding his arms over his chest, ignoring his brother's annoyance at the conversation they just heard. "Have you been owling Bill?"

"And Charles," Aster nodded her head, using her wand to open the box. Ignoring the questioning gazes while she dug through the box, Aster grinned and pulled out a handful of Black family pouches. "Blank Black family pouches for you two," she announced while tossing them onto George's bed.

"Oh," Lee grinned, "That's brilliant. You went to Bill to go into your vault instead of going to the goblins."

Aster nodded her head, but continued to dig. "I still had to sign a form giving him permission, but I figured I trust him more than the goblins. I didn't tell him what the pouches were for though."

"If he only sent you the pouches," George said, sitting next to her and playing with a soft pink colored pouch, "Then why are you still digging?"

Grunting out in triumph, and grinning like a mad woman, Aster pulled her head out from the box, "Because he didn't only send me the pouch."

"Is that a diary?"

Aster nodded her head; her grin beaming like a cat that caught a canary… or in her case, the witch that caught the werewolf. "I have eight of them; they belonged to my dad. I've been owling Bill since the night before we came to Hogwarts," she explained to them. "I didn't want to mention anything in case he couldn't get the pouches to me, so I didn't want to get your guys' hopes up only to bring them back down. And the diaries are for proof that Lupin used to go to the Black manor to visit my uncle. I also have this," reaching back inside the box, Aster pulled out the photo album.

"Why would your dad keep a Gryffindor colored photo album?" asked Fred.

"He didn't," Aster snorted, "This is the photo album of Sirius Black."

All three boys gasped, "And there are pictures of him with Lupin inside of there?"

"I'm willing to bet everything inside of my Gringotts vault that there is," Aster nodded her head in confirmation.

History of Magic was always the boring class. Even the good boy Cedric Diggory was playing a game of hangman with his friends. Deciding that now was the perfect time to decide to get to know her father, Aster pulled out one of the diaries. All ten diaries were a dark emerald color, embroidered by silver. She could only tell them apart by the titles on each one: _R.A.B Year One, R.A.B Year Two, R.A.B Year Three, R.A.B Year Four, R.A.B Year Five, R.A.B Year Six, R.A.B Year Seven, R.A.B Eighteen… _not really knowing where to start, Aster decided to just read whichever book she pulled out first. By her luck it just so happened to be the book dedicated to his first year. Professor Binns continued to talk about Gypsies and Witches, but Aster opened the book to the first page and stared in awe. Her dad's penmanship was almost similar to hers, but whereas her slanted letters gave off a sense of femininity, his was slightly more masculine.

_First, September, 1972_

_Today was the day I came to Hogwarts. It's a day I've been dreading most, ever since the second of June, the day that I turned eleven. I normally don't approve of males keeping something such as this book to house their thoughts, but some words are better left unspoken, and they're too dangerous to keep inside of my head. On the train ride here I made some friends, and they were all looking forward to being placed inside of houses. But how can I share in their excitement? How can I, a son of the house of Black, look forward to being placed in any house? As a Black I am expected to be placed into Slytherin, but it doesn't always turn out that way does it?_

_Nobody knows the true story of the Blacks, not even I know the true story of my name, but I sometimes try to understand my family. I was placed into Slytherin almost as soon as the hat touched my head, but I wasn't as pleased as I thought I'd be. People in all four houses were being applauded by their siblings, but once the hat shouted out my destiny I saw my own brother turn his head in disgust. He and his friends all stared at me with distaste. Well, sort of… one of his friends looked at me with pity. At least, I think she's one of his friends. She's a pretty girl with hair as red as the flames of fire, and eyes as bright as the dew on morning grass. I know she's a muggle-born because I've heard one of my brother's friends talking about how she had higher marks than him and it wasn't fair because she didn't know about any of these things until she got her letter. And I also know that her name is Lily – Lily Evans, because my brother's other friend is in love with her._

_I know that my brother and I haven't always gotten along, and after he got sorted into Gryffindor – the first Black in history – he's become a white sheep in a house of full of black wolves. Mother and Father hate him for it, especially Mother, and although I hadn't done anything against him… he turns away from me. This is my first night sleeping out of the manor, and although we're in different houses I would have liked to have my big brother comfort me, but it seems he's just as prejudiced as our parents are. If I'm not exactly like him why should he show me anything?_

_I wouldn't admit to anyone that I wish I were sorted into his house instead. Mother and Father might have turned against me, but I'd at least have my brother to back me up. But for now I am alone. My brother turned on me the way my parents turned on him, and it seems like his friends have turned on me as well. Things are different now that I'm no longer allowing James to borrow my broom for Quidditch matches in the backyard, or that Remus is no longer using our dungeons to turn at every full moon. I don't care if Peter ignores me; I've never liked him anyway. Maybe I'll become friends with Lily just to annoy them all._

_I should go to sleep now, it's late over here and we start classes tomorrow. A boy in third year, Severus, was telling me that Professor Slughorn expects us to make our house look perfect by not sleeping in class. I like you, book, I think I'll continue to write to you so I don't have to face Hogwarts on my own…_

_-R.A.B_

"Aster," jerking slightly when George gently nudged her with his elbow, Aster looked up from the pages she had been reading. It was a short diary entry; only a page and a half, but it seemed to be filled with so much emotion. Was this book the one thing to finally show her who her dad was other than a Death Eater? Would she finally understand why he became a Death Eater? She knew that Snape knew her dad personally, but did Snape know that her dad cared about him enough to put his name into the very first page of a book that he would soon grow to trust?

Lee and Fred exchanged nervous glances with one another. "Aster? Are you alright? You seem paler than normal."

Glancing back at the page she had just read, Aster looked up once more and saw that they were alone in the classroom. The ghost professor was eying them warily. "Sorry," she suddenly said, shoving the book back into her bag, "I err… I sort of lost track of time."

"Right…" Lee said nothing else.

Scratching the back of his head, George stared down at her. Something was obviously bothering his friend, and once upon a time she would have told them. "Well, c'mon," he eventually said, "We're starving."

"You guys go ahead to lunch without me," Aster told them, "I'm not that hungry."

All three boys gasped. Fred began to clutch at his heart. "What? What is this? Nooooo… you cannot be abandoning us, Aster, you can't! Since when did you not appreciate the fine art that food is?"

Rolling her eyes at Fred's dramatics, Aster shrugged her shoulders. "I'll see you guys later."

Trying her best to not run all the way to the black lake, Aster quickly lengthened her usually short steps. Finding the same beech tree that they always sat at so they could be a distance away from the other students but close enough to the lake, Aster wriggled herself out of her cloak then dropped it to the ground so she could sit on that instead of the grass. Normally she wouldn't mind sitting on the bare grass; preferred it actually, but today it seemed a bit damp, and all she wanted to do was sit down and read more into her dad's life. Tossing her bag down, she carefully sat down so that she wouldn't flash anybody with her skirt. Like a majority of the girls of Hogwarts she liked to use magic to make it shorter than its original length. Once sitting in a comfortable position against the tree, with her legs laying out in front of her, Aster pulled the book out once more.

_Fifth, September, 1972_

_I got my letter back from Mother and Father today. They're proud of me, and they're going to strip Sirius of his inheritance. He'll still be entitled to a few things, seeing as how he's the firstborn Heir to the Black family name of this generation, but other than that they're disinheriting him. I don't think he minds though; it isn't as if he's ever really been a part of the family. He's always been different from the rest of us – an outcast._

_The friends that I made on the train are no longer my friends. Well, sort of… one of them is still my friend. He's a pureblood in Slytherin as well, and he's the one I spend all of my time with now. Sirius allowed his friend James to shove me in the halls yesterday. I looked at my brother for help in defending me, but he only stood on the sidelines and laughed with Remus and Peter. I tried telling my brother that I didn't trust Peter. I caught Peter whispering about something with Lucius Malfoy the other day, but Sirius only sneered down at me and called me a filthy liar, then I was shoved. It was nice to have my new friend defend me. I regret the fact that my brother responded by hexing my new friend, but he stuck by me anyway. The only good thing that came out of it was when Lily came to our rescue and she hexed James for us. I could see the glee in Severus's eyes when the witch pointed her wand at the Marauders. I think Severus is in love with Lily, and Massimo agrees with me._

_The Marauders weren't as happy as us though, and I know that look in my brother's eyes when I see it – he just became more determined to hurt me. I don't know what I did to him, other than be placed into Slytherin. It isn't my fault that I'm not exactly like him, but I don't like to kick people who are already on the ground. Most of Gryffindor looks up to the Marauders as if they're some great lord, but they aren't any different from the Dark Lord, are they? They pick on the helpless for no reason. They hex us from behind, and I know that given time – they'll succeed in killing us. I never thought I'd have to fear my own brother as much I fear my parents. If I have no one to turn to in my own family, what will become of me? Will I follow the same path as my cousin Bellatrix, or should I run away like my cousin Andromeda will? Andy trusts me with her secrets, and although I don't approve of that muggle-born, Tonks, I know he'll treat her right. Do you think they'll accept me when I follow Andy's path and run as far from the Black name as I can? Sirius acts like he wants nothing to do with our parents, but he's no different from them._

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Looking up from the pages that basically just tore her heart out, Aster saw George frowning down at her through a blurry vision. "My heroes," she shook her head, "My heroes aren't really heroes."

"What?"

Once George was seated beside her, Aster handed him the diary. "I wanted to read as much as I could about my dad, in the hopes that I could learn more about him," she sniffed, wiping her teary eyes, "But all I learned is that my uncle hated him because he was placed into Slytherin, Lupin is a werewolf, James Potter shoved him into a wall, Peter was untrustworthy, he hated the Black family, one of his cousins was plotting to run away with a muggle-born, Lily Evans was best friends with Snape – who both came to his rescue against his own brother – oh yeah, and the Marauders were no different than Voldemort."

With wide eyes, George quickly read what Aster pointed out to him. With a disgusted look on his face, George felt sick to his stomach, "But – but the-"

"I know," Aster nodded her head, "Ever since we were eleven and we found the map, we wanted to be just like the Marauders. We wanted to follow in their footsteps, and we even took in their oath. Did you know that the Marauders were Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew?" George shook his head, and Aster tearfully sighed, "And I had no idea that they picked on people."

"We need to tell Fred and Lee."

Aster nodded her head in agreement. "But I don't want Harry to find out at all. He looks up to his dad; I don't want him to find out his dad was no better than Voldemort."

"Right. Harry already has a lot of things to deal with right now. Besides, nobody wants to hear their dad was an arrogant prick, when everyone else painted him as a hero. Do you want to go find Fred and Lee right now?"

"I want to read some more first. This is the first thing that I have that will bring me closer to my dad."

"Okay. Do you want me to leave you alone?"

Aster shook her head, and situated her body so that she could lay her head in George's lap. "No, I want you to stay with me."

Smiling as he ran his fingers through the long black curls, George nodded his head, "Of course."

"I'll read out loud to you," Aster grinned.

Sirius kept a safe distance from them, hidden in the bushes that Severus Snape once hid inside of to watch him and his friends. He knew that he couldn't be spotted, but he could see and hear everything in front of him. He'd been confused as to why his niece was entering Kings Cross with his godson, but he hadn't been able to see any of them until now. Hogwarts was swarming with Dementors, and Remus was the newest professor. Until now, Sirius hadn't gotten the chance to actually enter Hogwarts. He was searching for Harry, to make sure he was alright, when he spotted his niece walking towards the very tree that he and his own friends used to hang out at all the time. With curiosity he watched her make a place for her to sit down. It wasn't until she pulled the very Slytherin book out of her bag that Sirius noticed she was wearing the same colors of his own house. The daughter of Regulus Black was in Gryffindor?

Sirius laid down in the bushes, sure that his doggy looks wouldn't be caught, and he watched as his niece read the book in front of her. It was obvious by the way she bit on her bottom lip, and her eyebrows furrowed, that she was disturbed by whatever she was reading. When he spotted her tears, Sirius debated on whether or not it was worth the risk showing himself to her, but he was interrupted by the tall redheaded boy who joined his niece. The boy had obvious concern in his voice, and Sirius bit back a growl. His niece was too young to be dating, but he also recognized the boy as one of the Weasley twins from the train station. They were also with Harry. What exactly was it that brought his godson together with his niece and the Weasleys? Listening as the two of them spoke, Sirius started to feel sick to his stomach.

Regulus's diary – that's what she was reading; that was what was making her cry. How did they know about the Marauders in order to feel betrayed by a group that they once looked upon as heroes? Why did he have to be so stubborn and ignore his brother's warnings about Peter? Did Andromeda really confide to Regulus that she was going to run away with Ted Tonks? Did he really push his brother away to the point that Regulus was soon comparing them to Voldemort? Why the hell was his niece's head in the Weasley boy's lap?!

"_Sixth, September, 1972_," Sirius listened as his niece started to read a new entry. He was greatly disturbed by the love coming from the boy's eyes, "_Massimo and I got detention because of Sirius and James today. Sometimes I would think that the two of them are in love, if not for the obvious way James stares at Lily – who hates him – and the way I see Remus staring at my brother. I know my parents wouldn't approve of Sirius's taste in the same sex and, as much as he claims to hate following my parents' rules, I know that he only goes with a lot of girls so that he wouldn't feel as if he shamed our family completely. He still wants some sort of acceptance from our parents, even if he won't admit it_-"

George chuckled and interrupted. "No wonder why Lupin hates you so much, Aster. It's not just because you're the daughter of a Death Eater, but it's also 'cause you look like the boy he used to be in love with."

Aster also chuckled, but hers was softer than George's; almost forced. "He probably resents me 'cause I was born with the wrong parts. Stupid bloody git!"

Sirius watched them, and his mind flashed with all sorts of warning signs. Is it true? Did his brother really see Remus staring at him in a way different from how a friend should see just a friend? Was it the same way that the Weasley boy is now staring down at his niece – with a look of longing desire to be noticed in the same way? Did he ever look at Remus in the same way?

"-_I don't hate him for it though – try as I do, I just can't bring myself to hate my brother… at least not in the same sense that he hates me. Massimo and I got detention by McGonagall today because we were walking towards her class when the two gits decided to hex us. I started to hang in the air, being held by some sort of invisible force keeping me upside down. I looked over to the left and I saw that my brother had Massimo spinning in different directions. That's one thing about my brother – he won't physically hurt me himself, he always has his friends do it for him. I don't know which is worse. My brother hurting me himself, or him allowing it to happen? I refused to let my brother see me cry, but when I looked at Sirius I could feel my tears starting to happen. A real Black doesn't cry. That's the unspoken rule of our family, but I don't feel like a real Black anyway, especially not when the brother I've always looked up to was grinning and laughing when his best friend dropped me to the ground on my head. My neck still hurts from the odd angle it landed on, but I refuse to go to Madam Pomfrey for help. If McGonagall wouldn't listen to us when we told her what her lions did, why would the healer? Is she just as biased as the rest of this bloody school?_"

Sirius could feel the rat that he ate for lunch trying to come back up.

"_I thought Massimo would have abandoned me by now, but he only laughed and told me that Puceys don't take sides in wars-_"

Sirius watched his niece's cheeks burn with embarrassment, while the Weasley's cheeks burned with rage. It didn't stop the Weasley from teasing the blushing girl though. "Pucey?" he gawked. "What are the odds of your dad being best friends with a Pucey, while his daughter is in love with his son?"

"Shut up!" Aster hissed, quickly scanning the area to make sure they weren't overheard. It was as if she didn't care if anyone heard her dad's intimate thoughts, but the idea of someone learning of her crush on a Pucey made her curl away mortified.

George laughed. "I heard that the Blacks keep the tradition of an arranged marriage. Do you think if your dad was still alive, you would be given away to the very Pucey that you pine for?"

A certain shadowed look came over Aster's face, and Sirius suddenly became determined to find if a contract did exist. He would have to cancel it. There was no way he would allow his niece to marry a Pucey – even if he was an honest bloke as Massimo was. Massimo Pucey was the only friend of his brother's that he had ever approved of. He was truly loyal. "Do you think Adrian knows that his dad and my dad used to be friends?"

"I don't know," George shrugged his shoulders. "Kenneth asked you to switch partners with him tomorrow night, so why don't you ask him while you're patrolling?"

Sirius's doggy eyes widened and he would have fallen if he weren't already lying down. Regulus's daughter was a Prefect?

"Maybe…" Aster chewed on her bottom lip. She didn't hear the sarcasm in her best friend's voice, nor did she see the annoyance in his eyes. She cleared her throat, "_Severus found us in the common room trying to nurse our own wounds. While spinning around, Massimo crashed into the wall, and now his arms and hands are all cut up. There's even a scratch on his cheek, making him look as if he was mauled by McGonagall's cat persona. His wounds aren't as bad, but I still keep apologizing for what my brother did to him. Severus seemed more frightened by my head though. I didn't even realize blood was trickling down it until I heard him ask why my head was bleeding. We told him what happened, and I saw a flash in his eyes that I've never seen before. I wonder if anyone besides Massimo, Lily, and I know that his father is constantly abusing him when he returns to that house. I'm determined to ask Mother and Father if Severus can come stay with us for the holidays. He'll still be stuck with the bloody Marauders, but at least he won't be anywhere near his father. It's worse than what Mother does to Sirius – at least by muggle standards. His father can't use a wand, but he does use a belt and words._"

Sirius froze again. His niece and her friend had the same reaction as him. "Did – did that just say that-?"

Aster nodded her head, quickly rereading the words. "Snape was abused as a child"

"No wonder he's the way he is," George said in a low tone. "Keep reading, Aster."

Aster nodded her head again, already reading the forgotten words of her long-dead father. "_After realizing that he couldn't heal my head by himself, Severus took us to see Lily. She was reading with Remus in the library when we found her. Remus could smell the blood on us before we even reached them, and I could see the annoyance in his face. I think he was more annoyed with the fact that we were going to tell on his friends than the actual damage, though. Severus scowled at Remus while telling Lily everything that happened, and I could see the flames in her eyes. Sometimes she scares me more than my cousin Bellatrix. And Bella's frightening all the time. Cursing under her breath the entire time, Lily used her wand to heal my head. I didn't want to tell her that my neck was hurting me from the landing, because I didn't want her to heal it. Some part of me wants to remember the pain caused my brother and his friends, I want it to stand as reminder that I can't trust Sirius the way I once did. Massimo would do a better job of protecting me than my own brother will. I don't want to forget that. Sirius may be my brother by blood, but it's obvious that he chooses the others over me. –R.A.B!_"

"Wow," George sighed.

Sitting up, Aster gently placed the book back into her bag. "I wonder if Sirius knew," she whispered, "I wonder if he knew that he gave Massimo lots of scratches, or if he knew that his brother could have broken his neck by the way he landed. Do you think he even cared that his own brother feared he wouldn't be there to save him?"

Sirius watched from the bushes. He was crying. Of all the memories that the Dementors forced him to endure, that wasn't one of them. He was as much a monster as people thought him to be – he didn't even regret injuring an eleven year old or watching as his best friend almost killed his little brother. Now he regretted it, but while in Azkaban he didn't even relive it.

"Obviously not," George scoffed, "He turned your dad away when he wanted shelter for you, didn't he? He didn't even care enough to take you in when your dad was killed a month later."

Hiding her tears with a quick wipe of her wrist, Aster nodded her head. Linking her arm in with George's she rested her head on his shoulder, "And McGonagall's still no different. I may be in her house, but she tosses me aside for Harry in a heartbeat. As much as Lupin wants me dead, if he didn't force me to eat the chocolate the night that the Dementors attacked, I would be with my dad right now."

"Don't talk like that!" George's voice was hoarse.

"Lupin probably only saved my life that night because he's still in love with Sirius or something. Maybe he sees my uncle in me as much as McGonagall sometimes does?" Aster shrugged her shoulders. It was the only reasoning that seemed to make sense to her. If her dad was right, and Lupin was in love with Sirius, he probably only saved her life with the chocolate because he still felt something for her uncle. It was confusing, but then again so was Lupin. One minute he was saving her, and then the next minute he hated her. "Do you think he was right, George?"

"Was who right?"

"My dad?" Aster asked him in a low voice. "I mean, we're only a week into his first week at Hogwarts in the diary, and I'm already starting to slowly understand why he joined Voldemort. James Potter was just as evil, and my dad had to choose a side to fight for. Why choose the side that has people who tried killing you before, when you have the rest of your family and friends on the other side? I don't think he chose to follow Voldemort per se, but I think that-"

"-he chose to follow the side where he knew people would protect him instead of kill him?" George finished for her. When Aster nodded her head, George sighed, "C'mon, love, let's go find Fred and Lee. We'll talk about it over cups of tea in our room."

Neither teen had any idea that they left a sobbing Sirius Black in the bushes behind them. Every part of him wanted to just give himself up to the Dementors already. He had no idea. He didn't know how much his isolation was hurting his brother. But what his niece just said was true, even the Weasley twin was right, he had pushed his brother into joining Voldemort; not because he wanted muggle-borns and muggles killed, but because everyone fighting against Voldemort had tried to kill him before. He pushed his brother into becoming a Death Eater, and now his niece truly believed that James Potter was no different from the man who killed him. In a way it was true. They picked on people without knowing anything about them. He didn't pick on Regulus the way that an older brother would, but he allowed his friends to physically abuse him. They physically bullied people for the fun of it and because they were just as prejudiced as the family he hated. They didn't even bother to think about why Snape wore baggy clothes, or why he was always miserable looking, they just loved to mock him for it. How long had he been getting abused for?

What had he done?

"Blimey!"

Lying down on George's bed, Aster had her legs propped up on Lee's lap while her back rested against the headboard. Fred sat on one side of her, and George sat on the other. She nodded her head in agreement with Fred's statement, clutching George's blanket up to her neck. "Tell me about it."

Keeping his hands on Aster's purple painted toes, Lee had a weird look on his face. "Am I the only one who noticed that Regulus's statement also implied that Snape's father is a muggle?"

The three others all shook their heads. "We noticed that," George sighed, "But we focused more on the fact that Snape used to be abused."

"And the fact that James Potter was an arrogant little toe-rag," snarled Aster. "He picked on my dad for no reason, while my uncle stood there laughing about it. James could have killed my dad! And that was way before he became a Death Eater. According to the diary, my dad was scared of his parents, and he basically said he wanted nothing to do with Voldemort. He wanted to run away after graduation so he could hide out with his muggle loving traitor cousin."

Squeezing Aster's leg, Lee gave her a small smile of support. "At least he had Lily and Snape, and Pucey's dad."

"That also bugs me," Fred announced. "Everyone makes it seem like James and Lily Potter loved each other, unconditionally. So why are we starting to realize that Lily wanted nothing to do with him?"

"Maybe she ended up falling for him afterwards?" Aster suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. Her eyes were still tinted red from everything she had just learned. All her life she learned that her dad was the bad guy, but now she was learning that everyone seemed to be manipulating her.

George was the one who scoffed. "That would be like you falling for Montague."

"Ugh!" shuddering at the thought of ever falling in love with Montague, Aster scowled at George. "It was just a thought."

"We need to find Sirius," Fred suddenly said, "He's the only one who can give us the answers we need. I mean, we could go to Snape but I doubt he'll tell us anything. It seems like he and Lily were best of friends and if Sirius did kill Lily, then it explains why he hates you with-"

"But he doesn't," Aster interrupted. "I mean, he hates everyone in Gryffindor, but he doesn't treat me as horribly as he does the rest of you. If you think about it, this sort of explains why he's a bit more…" she struggled to find the word, "Well… why he's sort of nicer to me. He doesn't see the daughter of a Death Eater. He sees the daughter of-"

"-an old friend!" Lee grinned.

Aster smiled back at him then nodded her head. "I never thought the day would come when I would feel bad for Snape. He was bullied at home, and by his professors."

"I can't believe that McGonagall didn't listen to him or Regulus," Lee sighed.

"I can," Aster rolled her eyes. "It sounds sort of familiar, don't it?"

Staring intently at Aster, George gently squeezed her shoulder. Pulling her closer so that she leaned against him, he sighed. "You mean how she always singles you out even when we're the ones who does something wrong?"

"Or how she blatantly ignored you when you were obviously weak because of the Dementor attack," Fred added with a bitter tone.

"Oh," Lee frowned, "Right! It's just sort of hard to believe that McGonagall is just as biased as Snape."

"She's part of the reason why Snape's the way he is," George rolled his eyes. "I always knew that old bat was mental. And it's not like we can go to Dumbledore with this… he's the ring leader."

Staring up at the ceiling, Aster took in a deep breath. "No," she shook her head, "Let's not do this. I refuse to hate McGonagall and Dumbledore. Granted, I'm annoyed that they chose to side with the bloody Marauders, but it isn't their fault they just assumed that my dad and Snape were evil. They fell into the trend that nobody from Slytherin can be trusted."

"But, Aster, they-"

"-they act just like everybody else," Aster nodded her head, "Even us."

"But you aren't a Slytherin."

"But I'm a Black!" she reminded them. A sour taste took over her mouth. The thought sickened her to be part of such a horrid family. "I just need to work harder to prove them all wrong. And I'm going to prove my dad's innocence."

The boys all shared a quiet look. After a moment's hesitation, Fred was the one who spoke up. "Your dad was a Death Eater, Aster."

"And James Potter almost killed him when he was eleven years old just because his colors were green and silver," Aster hissed out through clenched teeth. "People change, Fred. My dad was one of them, and I'm going to prove it."

Scratching at his long dreads, Lee quirked an eyebrow, "What about Harry?"

"He doesn't need to know," Aster quickly shook her head. "It's bad enough he's stuck with the Dursleys; let him believe that his dad was a good guy."

"And the map?"

Glaring at the Marauders Map as if she wanted it to burst into flames, Aster sniffed. "We're going to use it to catch the three remaining Marauders, and I'm going to laugh at the irony that we used their own invention to catch them. But they're no longer heroes of mine, nor do I want anything else to do with them. Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail are now black pits in my mind. They're dead to me."

"To all of us," sighed Lee. He, too, stared at the map in front of them with distaste. "I can't believe we looked up to them to the point that we wanted to be just like them."

Staring blankly at the map, George nudged it with his foot. "We'll be better than them."

"We already are," Fred's face was drained of all emotions. He was the one who took the Marauders to heart; pushing his own friends to follow in their genius steps and become Animagi as well. "We don't hurt people for the joy of it. We'll use the map to find Sirius and Peter Pettigrew, but we burn it when we're done."

Aster was the one who protested. "Harry has nothing of his parents, and I know what that's like. People keep the truth of his dad hidden from Harry and, as much as I don't want him to find out that his dad was no better than Voldemort, the map is rightfully his. We'll use it to find Sirius and Pettigrew, but then we give it to him. He doesn't need to know that it once belonged to his dad, but he has every right to it."

"I wonder who's who," Lee admitted after a while. "I mean, now that we know their names, who is who?"

"Lupin is Moony," Fred stated with a stern assurance. "It's obvious. He has that problem every month, so they called him Moony."

"And my uncle is Padfoot," Aster told them. "It seems to fit with his whole 'doggy' issue."

Examining the map, George winced. "Then James is Prongs. It's obvious that Prongs was the leader of the Marauders, because his name is on the top of everything. And it sort of only seems obvious that James was the leader of his friends."

"Which means that Pettigrew is Wormtail," Lee grunted. "I wonder if they knew he was going to be a traitor when they gave him that name."

_Twenty-eighth, September, 1972_

_Nearly an entire month has passed since I've been here at Hogwarts. I wish Professor Slughorn favorited us as Professor McGonagall does her own house, but Professor Slughorn seems to believe in house unity and all that other junk. I was late to Potions because James and Sirius thought it would be funny to trap me under one of the moving staircases. James didn't like the idea that Lily stayed in the Slytherin common room until eleven last night while helping me with one of my Charms assignments. I'm not good with the Leviosa spell. Lily knows about the problems I'm having with my brother and his friends, so she promised me she wouldn't say anything about it, but I guess Remus decided not to keep the secret as well. I got my revenge though. It may have been just bitter anger on my part, but I let Lily in on Remus's 'furry' little secret. That's what my brother them call it. Lily wanted to know how I knew about it, so I told her that Remus comes to my manor every full moon while we're on holiday. Remus lives in a muggle town, so my parents agreed to let Sirius bring him here where it's safer. They lock him up in a cage in the dungeons, and my brother stays with him. My parents are naïve to it, but I'm not. My brother is an Animagus. They all are. They do it so they can help Remus keep a calm mind during the transformations._

_Lily was shocked when I told her, but she seemed to already know. She confided in me that Remus doesn't know she knows, but that she found out in their second year – she put the clues together. She really is the brightest-witch-of-our-age, isn't she? The next witch who earns that title should be honored to hold a title as worthy as the one that Lily holds. For some reason I found myself wanting to impress Lily, if only to prove to her that all Blacks aren't as dense as Sirius. I told her that the remaining Marauders are all Animagi. I don't know what their forms are, but I know that they transform every full moon with Remus. That was news to her!_

_Massimo and I are both behind in our Charms class and Lily offered to help as much as she can, but James made it clear to me that he wants me to stay away from his 'Lily-Flower' yuck! Lily seems to share my thoughts if James's new black eye is anything to go by. Severus was telling us that Lily approached James while they were in DADA, and that when James started to snicker about trapping me, she lost her calm then punched him. Massimo and I are currently hiding out in our common room because Lucius Malfoy warned us that the Marauders are looking for us. I don't trust Lucius in particular, but he's arranged to wed my cousin Cissy, and he knows that Cissy and I are close. She made it known that if he did anything to me, she won't become Lady Narcissa Malfoy. I think it's ludicrous to arrange a marriage from birth, but the Blacks and Malfoys keep traditions. If I ever have a daughter I won't force upon her what's forced upon Bella, Cissy, and Andy. If anything, Bella's the only one I know who doesn't care. Andy's planning on running away, but Cissy is trying to silently fight it. I know that Lucius is only kissing my arse because he actually feels something for Cissy, and he knows that if she pouts her lips her parents won't force her to go along with the arrangement._

_Massimo and I are taking great pleasure in knowing that we have seventh year, Lucius Malfoy, under our every bid. I wrote to Bella about it, and she also seems to be amused that Lucius did a first year's homework assignment. Not only did he do mine though, he also did Massimo's. Massimo protected me in a time when my own brother turned against me, so I made it known that Massimo is family to me. We may have known each other for only near a month, but we are already close. If you torture one, you torture both. If you respect one, you respect both. The Marauders learned that when Massimo laughed at their warnings to stay away from me, and Lucius learned that when he made fun of Massimo for his Italian accent. I pointed my wand to Lucius's throat, but Cissy was the one who uttered the hex. Massimo also believes me when I say that Peter isn't trustworthy. Something about him isn't right. I caught him in the Slytherin common room against last night. He snuck in about an hour after Lily left. He saw me staring at him, but he doesn't fear me. He knows that Sirius would believe him over me._

_Lucius just returned with some news. The Marauders are currently busy playing with the giant squid, so he and some of his friends are going to accompany Massimo and I to the library so we can meet up with Lily._

_-R.A.B_

"Hey."

Startled at the sudden noise, Aster jumped up and turned around. Adrian was standing in front of her. Blushing, she quickly thrust the diary into the pocket of her robes. "Hey."

"So, Tyler and Hanson said we were switching tonight?"

"Right," she nodded her head. Starting to walk down the halls, Aster looked at Adrian. He was wearing his robes over his clothing as well. They all got busted from McGonagall when she learned that they've been patrolling in regular clothes. "Eileen hexed Montague, and Kenneth wants every single detail from her."

Adrian laughed. Aster felt her heart swelling with the deep roaring sound coming from his mouth. "I figured it was as much. So you seemed to be pretty involved in that book you were reading?"

"Yeah," clasping her hands together in front of her, Aster took in a deep breath. "Pucey, your dad's name is Massimo, right?"

He nodded his head, "Uhh yeah."

"Does he…" she started to chew on her bottom lip. How could she ask the question that she desperately wanted to know? "Erm… well, does he ever mention my dad?"

Adrian stopped walking. "What?"

Also stopping, Aster turned so that she was facing him completely. She started to scratch at her arm. "Well, the book that I was reading, my dad kept a diary of his first year at Hogwarts," she quietly explained to him. "Your dad was his first friend."

Sighing, Adrian carefully watched her. Aster stared at the ground, but she could feel his eyes watching her closely. Her chest was heaving with uncomfortable breathing. Finally, "They were best friends up until the day your dad died."

Aster could feel a painful kink in her neck as she snapped it up to look up at Adrian. His eyes were full of such painful emotion that Aster thought she could cry again. "You knew?"

"There's a reason that we don't choose sides in the war," Adrian told her in a soft voice. "The Puceys have never wanted to become involved in either good or bad for the chance that they would be killed either way. We don't side with the Dark Lord, but we don't side with Dumbledore either. My dad told me that he and Regulus Black were best of friends, and he said that even after your dad joined the Death Eaters they kept in touch. My dad refused to join them though, but your dad respected that. He doesn't talk about your dad much, or his days at Hogwarts, but I know that they were best friends – brothers by all but blood, he tells me."

Not sure of how she felt by the new information, Aster prayed to all the gods she could think of to keep her from crying in front of Adrian. "Oh."

"Are you mad at me for not telling you all these years?"

Staring into the worried eyes, Aster took in a deep breath. "I don't know," she shook her head. "C'mon, we should be on the third floor already. I don't want to be the reason Percy has a heart attack."


	7. The Tiger's Roar

**Hey, welcome all you new readers who favorited and followed this… or are just reading this now for the first time(:**

The Tiger's Roar

The next couple of weeks went by with confusion for the Golden Box. Professor Lupin seemed to be mixed between openly hating Aster one minute, and then treating her with great care the next. Lee was the first one to voice his opinion that Lupin somehow knew about Aster reading her dad's diaries so he was just kissing her arse, but Aster suspected something else. Sometimes she thought she saw hatred in his eyes when looking at her, and other times his eyes showed guilt and misery. If her dad's thoughts were true, then Lupin was in love with her uncle. If he loved him why did he help Pettigrew frame him? It was George who voiced the next thought – maybe Lupin didn't frame Sirius. If Pettigrew was the only one to betray James and Lily, then Lupin probably believed the rest of the lies that Sirius was the one who killed Harry's parents. Then Fred spoke up next. If Lupin believed that Sirius was responsible for betraying the Potters and killing Pettigrew, then Lupin didn't only hate Aster because her dad was a Death Eater, but also because he was in love with her uncle who was responsible for killing all the other people he loved. Either way, Aster was stuck with a werewolf as an enemy.

Ever since Aster approached Adrian about his dad knowing her dad, Adrian tried his best to keep his distance from her. He greeted her in the same friendly way he always did, and he would smile at her from afar, but he didn't talk to her unless necessary. In their classes he sat with his own house, and when they had to patrol together, they made sure to only talk about school and nothing else. The twins were constantly spending their days at practice, so Lee and Aster were usually alone most of the time – time which they spent reading her dad's diary every chance they had. Lee told Aster that he understood if she wanted to read alone, but Aster didn't want to. How could she want to read the pages alone when they would only break her? Asking Lee to promise that he wouldn't leave her alone, Aster would curl up in his arms and loudly read the words that usually brought her to tears.

Narcissa was telling the truth that day in the shop. Her dad was close to her. Regulus confided in the once blank pages that Narcissa was his favorite of all the cousins, and that he secretly hoped she had the courage to run away with a muggle like her older sister. Regulus stated that Bellatrix was already a lost cause who bore the dark mark with pride, but that he hoped Narcissa would open her eyes. Narcissa confided in him that she envied Andromeda for having the courage to defy their family, but that somewhere along the years she fell in love with Lucius and wanted to marry him. Neither Regulus nor Narcissa hated muggle-borns or muggles, but if they wanted to survive in their family they had to act like it. The other Slytherins sneered upon Regulus for hanging out with Lily Evans, but Regulus and Massimo ignored them. Regulus was scared though – he couldn't be friends with her forever; not if he didn't want to be killed in his sleep.

"Aster?"

Looking up from her Potions essay, Aster saw Draco standing in front of her. "Umm, hey Draco," she smiled as politely as she could. She hadn't really spoken to him since the train. From next to her she heard a tiny little throat clear and saw Hermione openly glaring at the blonde boy. "Your arm looks better."

Blushing, Draco nodded his head. "Right, about that, I spoke with Adrian, and he was telling me that you seemed to form a special bond with the bloody chicken that attacked me?"

Aster cocked an eyebrow, and Hermione huffed from next to her, "The bloody chicken?"

"He means Buckbeak," Hermione hissed through her teeth. "And he's not a chicken, Malfoy, he's a hippogriff."

The narrowed eyes proved that Draco wanted to do nothing more than hex the girl who spoke up against him, but instead he took in a deep breath and ignored her. "Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I owled my father," Hermione coughed a word that resembled something Mrs. Cole once uttered when little Billy ran his bike over her toes, "And I got him to retract the statement against Hagrid. The bloody chick – err, hippogriff – won't be executed, and Hagrid's not on probation."

"Hermione!" Aster suddenly said, patting the younger girl on the back. Hermione was choking on air. "Hermione!" continuing to loudly thump the girl on the back, Aster breathed a sigh of relief when Hermione finally gasped. "Bloody hell!" she sighed. "You had me scared. Are you okay?"

Hermione nodded her head. Watery eyes stared up at Draco. "You – you… but you just… did you really?"

"Yes," Draco nodded his head.

Not noticing that in her bought of choking she dropped her inkwell onto her Divination assignment, Hermione continued to stare up at Draco. She had a sense of awe in her eyes. "Wow."

Giving Hermione a confused look, Aster heard Harry's voice enter the library and she groaned. "Thank you Draco," she told her cousin – the only person from her dad's side that she actually knew. "Was that all you needed to tell me?" when he shook his head, Aster quickly jumped up and gathered all of her books into her bag. "Hermione, if you see the twins or Lee can you tell them that I'll probably just see them after patrol?"

Hermione nodded her head, "Sure, Aster."

"Thanks," straightening her robes, Aster gestured for Draco to follow her through one of the rows of books. "C'mon before we all get kicked out when Ron and Harry see you."

Confused as to why Draco only now approached her about the whole hippogriff situation, when it happened in the first week of school, Aster led him out of the library. She could hear Madam Pince scolding Hermione for yelling when she realized her inkwell fell all over her homework. Adrian was still strong on her mind too. She missed the random conversations they had, and she missed the way that he flirtatiously liked to play with her. It was like missing an old friend that she didn't realize she was so close to. She was still greeted with his warm smile, but it just wasn't the same. Feeling something turning in her gut, Aster frowned. Cedric just walked past her. Her stomach seemed to always be turning when Cedric was around. Bah! Why was her stomach playing with her like this? It isn't as if she likes Cedric like that – she still has a crush on Adrian. No, scratch that, she didn't crush on Adrian – that was love with Adrian. Yeah, she was in love with Adrian… wasn't she?

"Hi, Cedric!" Aster smiled when he stopped in front of her.

Smiling back, Cedric chuckled. "Hey, Aster," he nodded his head at Draco in a friendly way, "Hullo, Malfoy."

"Diggory," Draco's tone was slightly harsh, but it was expected. Draco hated everyone who wasn't in his house… except for Aster apparently.

"What's up, Cedric?" Aster asked.

"Actually, I came to talk to Malfoy," when Aster suddenly stepped back, and Draco frowned in confusion, Cedric blushed. "I just got the notice today that Hufflepuff is going to play against Gryffindor in the first match, instead of Slytherin," Cedric told Draco. "Madam Hooch said it was because of your arm, but then I heard rumors that your arm is perfectly fine and you dropped all accusations against the hippogriff. So, I need to know if you're still out of the match."

Turning a dark shade of red, Draco looked as if he wanted to run away and hide for eternity. "We can't play," he shamefully admitted, "I asked Madam Hooch, but she said it was too late. We were pulled out because of an injury, so we can't suddenly decide to play again."

"I figured as much," Cedric sighed. "I figured there was no harm in asking though. What does Flint say about losing out on a match?"

Chancing a quick glance at his cousin, who paid more attention to how fluffy Cedric's hair was, Draco licked his lips. "Err, well, Flint was the one who told me to complain to Madam Hooch that my arm hurt and I couldn't play. He doesn't want to play until we have more time to practice."

"Damn!" Cedric hissed. Sighing, he shook his head then rubbed his neck. "I should've known Flint wouldn't be fair this year, even if it is his last. Well, I should go warn my team right now," looking over at Aster, who quickly turned her head away so that he wouldn't know she was staring at him, he grinned. "I'll see you tonight, Aster."

"See you," she grinned back, nodding her head at him.

Watching Cedric leave for the Quidditch pitch, Aster could feel her stomach literally doing all sorts of flips. Pressing her hand against it so that she could calm her nerves, she saw Draco watching her with a confused look. She didn't blame him. She was confused too. Why was her body reacting the way that it does when she sees Adrian? Sure, Cedric was extremely good looking, and although she tried to avoid cooing over his deep dimples the way all the other girls did, Aster had to admit they were adorable. There was also the way that Cedric's laugh seemed to have her body shuddering with simple delight, and he was such a nice guy. Cedric was easy to talk to, and although he didn't seem like the type – he was funny as well. Not to mention he's respectful. During their patrol the week before, Aster was in a rush to meet up with him so she forgot her wand in her room. When she shivered from the cold caused by the outside rain, Cedric wriggled out of his jacket to wrap it around her. Still staring at the spot where Cedric disappeared to, Aster could feel her lips curling. Now that she thought about it, Cedric was such a wonderful guy!

"… so what do you think?"

Realizing that Draco had been talking to her while she was daydreaming about how much of a great guy Cedric was, Aster shook her head, "About what?"

"You haven't been listening to a word I said, have you?"

"Err… no?"

Groaning, Draco started over again. "So, I asked my mother about the pouch, like I told you I would, and she told me that there's a burgundy color pouch that she used to always love when she was a kid, but she said that you may want to trade your powder blue one for it though, because it belonged to your dad."

"Really?" Draco nodded his head, and Aster reminded herself to owl Bill and ask if he could pull that one out for her around Christmas time. As much as she wanted to learn more about her dad, she didn't want to use his pouch. She grew attached to the one she's been using since she was only eleven, and it seems like Narcissa would cherish the burgundy one more than she would. "Was that all that you were telling me?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "No, I was also telling you that it took so long for me to tell you Mother's answer, because we've been owling each other nearly every other day. She managed to find more pictures to put inside the album she's creating for you, and Father found out that she spoke to you. I guess Father used to sort of be friends with your dad, so when he found out he insisted that it's only fair he gets to meet you as well. Mother and Father both sent me letters inviting you to our manor for Christmas. They understand that you're close to the Weasleys, and that you might want to spend it with them instead, but they want to know if you'd like to at least spend the day with us. So what do you think?"

Aster's head was spinning. What did she think? She only just met Narcissa, and there was still no proof that they wouldn't kill her. Actually… she knew they wouldn't hurt her, at least Narcissa wouldn't. Giggling as she remembered reading about how Regulus and Massimo used to con Lucius into doing their homework just so Narcissa would marry him, Aster realized that she could learn a lot more about her dad if she went to the manor. Sure she's learning everything from his own thoughts, but what about before Hogwarts? Narcissa would be able to fill her in on his life before Hogwarts. And the diary was so far filled with heated moments between him and his brother and the rest of the Marauders. Would Lucius and Narcissa both fill her in on other moments of her dad's life at Hogwarts? Moments that weren't in the diary?

"Aster?" Draco was standing right in front of her, "So, what do you think?"

Staring into the eyes almost identical to her own, Aster began to scratch at her arm while biting her lower lip. "Can I think about it?" she asked him. "I want to. I want nothing more than to say yes and spend Christmas with actual blood relatives," Draco's smile seemed to match her own dreamy look, "But I need to think about it. I mean, no offense Draco, but until this year we haven't actually spoken to each other, and I don't really know your parents."

"Only what you hear from other people," Draco said bitterly.

Quickly shaking her head, Aster could practically feel her eyes darkening as they narrowed. "No!" she told him. "I promise to never judge a person from stories that I hear from other people. I recently just discovered some… books that belonged to my dad," she confided in her little cousin. "Yes, I hear things about your parents, but through these books I see another side of them. I also know that my dad wasn't as evil as some people made him out to be."

"Father wants you to come so he can see what you've grown into," Draco smiled, "But they also want you to come so they can tell you stories. Mother told me she has embarrassing stories involving both our fathers. People will always try to convince you that Regulus was evil, but it's up to you to decide where to draw the line. I know my parents aren't innocent, but I've been able to see it for myself. Don't let anyone manipulate you into thinking certain things about your father, Aster. Unlike me you weren't forced to grow up in a home with a Death Eater father who reminisces on certain evil deeds he's done. You grew up knowing the difference between right and wrong. If you found a way to learn about your father's past, then hold onto that. You can decide what deeds of his were evil, and you can decide what deeds were good."

Smiling, Aster looked at her cousin with pride. Everyone hated Draco for the same reason they hated her, but unlike her, Draco wasn't forced to feel a certain way towards his father by only stories. Draco actually knows his father, and he's grown up knowing what stories were real and what stories were lies. Draco knows his father's a Death Eater, but he can't be manipulated into thinking one way. Aster would never join Voldemort's side, not even after learning how cruel and evil James Potter truly was, but at least now she had a sense of pride when she thought of the man her dad once was. He may have been evil in the end, but he was once on the side of light, and he had a heart once. Besides, he did turn to his brother for shelter near the end, didn't he?

Draco placed a hand on Aster's left shoulder. "The Blacks aren't the best family to be a part of," he told her, "But neither are the Malfoys. I'm stuck with both of them, but at least I know them. I know that you'll never trust us completely, but I see that you are trying to get to know me, and I'm grateful for that. If you're uncomfortable with my father being around, you can meet up with just Mother, but please Aster, don't push us away just because of what you've heard of us. Give us a chance to show you our humane side."

"I can see it," Aster assured him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "I realize you're trying as well, Draco, which is why I'm trying. I'm learning things about my dad that people have kept hidden from me, and from these books of his I also know your dad was once human as well," grinning she giggled, "I'm also pretty sure I know a couple of the embarrassing stories your mum is going to tell me. But these books have also shown me that there are people I can't trust – people who I once trusted would protect me against all odds. I want to trust your parents won't hand me to the Dementors once I arrive at your manor, the same way I want to trust that McGonagall would shield me against a hex thrown in my direction. These books have opened my eyes to the world around me, and I fear I'm becoming a bit paranoid."

Draco noticed his head. "I've noticed that you've been sort of distant these last weeks. Your friends are also always looking over their shoulders."

Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, Aster smiled at the thought of her friends. "They've been reading with me, and they're starting to realize they've been lied to as well for all these years. They're just worried for me."

Frowning, Draco looked past Aster's head. "Would those books happen to have anything about Lupin inside of them?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because he was standing on the other side of the hall while we were talking, but he just gave you a funny look then walked away."

Feeling her stomach twisting in a way different from how either Adrian or Cedric makes her feel, Aster tried not to let Draco see her worry. "He went to school at the same time of my dad," she shrugged her shoulders, "He's been looking at me funny since his first day here. Anyway, just give me some time to think about it okay."

"Yeah," Draco nodded his head, still frowning in the direction that Lupin was standing not too long ago. "Sure. I'll tell Mother that you just need some time to think."

"Thanks," she smiled. "Listen, I've got this essay I need to finish for Snape's class, and you know how he treats us lions, so I really need to put a lot of effort into it. I'll see you around though."

Telling Hermione that her conversation with Draco ended earlier than she thought it would, Aster settled into a couch next to the bushy haired girl. Ron was sitting on the floor in front of them, staring at the book opened in front of him. Although she worked on the essay for Snape's class, Aster's mind was on Lupin. Draco said that he had been standing down the hall from them for a while, which means only one thing… Lupin heard everything she and Draco were talking about. There was always the suspicion that Lupin knew Aster knew the truth, but now he had it from her own mouth that she knew everything. Of course he heard her and her friends laughing about him being frightened of Katie since she turned her werewolf boggart into a Chihuahua, but now he pretty much had proof that Aster knew the truth of his past. But what did that mean? Would he only continue to grow harsher towards her, or would he finally let go of his hatred for a young teenaged girl? Chewing on the feather of one of her new quills, Aster started to cough on the feather in her mouth. Groaning when she realized she just ruined a new quill, Aster started to stand up and get ready for patrol. She was with Cedric tonight.

"Hey, Hermione, can you – Hermione?" looking around her, Aster saw all of the third years surrounded by the bulletin board. Oh, right, their very first Hogsmeade weekend. Smiling as she thought back to her own very first Hogsmeade weekend, Aster wondered when McGonagall pinned it to the board, and why she didn't notice the loud noise surrounding her.

Hearing the portrait open up, Aster waved Fred and George over to her. Maybe she could tell them all about her conversation with Draco before she had to leave to meet up with Cedric. "I figured you'd be getting ready to meet up with Diggory already," Fred greeted her.

"I was just about to when you guys walked in," shoving all of her things into her bag, while hiding her blushing face, Aster made sure she had her wand this time. "How was practice?"

"Cold," muttered George. "I swear Oliver's out to kill all of us this year."

"I do not disagree," Aster said, watching as her three roommates all stalked into the common room looking ready to kill the first person who talked to them. "Anyway, I talked to Draco today."

"We heard," George nodded his head. "Harry was telling us."

Seeing Aster's confusion, Fred cleared it up for her, "Hermione was telling Ron and Harry that Malfoy approached you guys in the library. So he really did get the hippogriff and Hagrid out of prosecution, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," she nodded her head, "But that isn't all," quickly explaining everything that she and Draco spoke about, Aster saw them staring at her with dropped jaws. "So now Lupin knows that we definitely know some of the truth about my dad's past."

"Good!" Fred remarked. "At least now he understands why most of our pranks are towards him and no longer towards Snape."

George scratched his chin. "Did you tell Lee, yet?"

"He's got detention with Filch tonight for-"

Aster was cut off by a sudden loud screeching sound. Turning her head to see where it was coming from, she watched as Ron tried pulling his bag away from Crookshanks. "GET OFF, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!"

"Ron, don't hurt him!" Hermione squealed, while trying to grab her cat. The entire common room was watching them now, and Ron was whirling his bag around, trying to fly Crookshanks off of it. Suddenly Scabbers came flying out of the top-

"CATCH THAT CAT!" Ron yelled. Crookshanks chased in the direction that Scabbers ran, and Aster hardly had any time to realize that the large ugly thing was aiming for her. Seeming to realize the short dilemma, George lunged for Crookshanks but he missed. Turning around, they all watched as Crookshanks hunched in front of an old chest of drawers. He was trying to claw his way to the frightened rat.

"Crookshanks really does not like Scabbers," Aster muttered underneath her breath to Fred. Looking at the watch on Fred's wrist, she suddenly paled. "Damn! I was supposed to meet up with Cedric like ten minutes ago. I'll see you guys later!"

Leaving all of her things with the twins in the common room, Aster barely heard Ron shouting at Hermione that Scabbers was all skin and bones. Spotting Montague and Eileen, she quickly shouted that she had to deal with her house, and then continued to run until she found Cedric. Instead of waiting for her where they were supposed to meet, Cedric was already walking alone in the halls of Hogwarts. Panting, and sweating, Aster held onto Cedric's shoulder while trying to catch her breath. She nearly collided into him, and would have fallen if he didn't reach out both hands to steady her. After two minutes of simply just breathing, Aster looked up and saw that Cedric seemed to be smiling at the situation.

"Sorry," she said, pulling away from his shoulder, "Crookshanks tried to kill Scabbers again, so I sort of lost track of time."

The smile suddenly dropped, and confusion took over the handsome face. "I'm sorry. Who tried to kill who again?"

"Crookshanks and – oh, sorry, you don't know who Crookshanks and Scabbers are. Crookshanks is Hermione's bloody beast of a cat, and Scabbers is Ron's rat. Crookshanks is constantly trying to eat Scabbers, and it becomes a huge thing in the common room because it ends with Hermione and Ron both trying to kill each other."

"Right," Cedric chuckled, nodding his head. They were standing in front of a window, and Aster noticed that when the moonlight hit Cedric at a certain angle, his hair turned from brown to an almost golden color. "Did Scabbers get away at least?"

"When I left, Ron had Scabbers in his hands."

"At least Ron still has his pet, then."

They walked in silence for a couple of minutes, but Aster couldn't stand it. Every moment that they didn't talk, her body was pushing her closer to Cedric. She cleared her throat, and blushed when Cedric slanted his head to look at her. "I, umm, I figured you'd want to start patrolling with Montague instead of leaving him alone with Eileen?"

Cedric laughed. "That was a couple of weeks ago, Aster, and besides he hasn't tried anything with her since then. Not to mention I'm more frightened of what will happen if I leave you two alone together," Aster started to laugh, and Cedric smiled while watching her do so. He noticed that she tilted her head back to laugh. It wasn't an annoying laugh, nor was it overdone; she just tilted her head back to laugh. "Plus, Eileen told me that she sort of threatened Montague that if he tried anything again she would switch with you. He's afraid of you, you know."

"Good!" Aster grinned. "He should be!"

The rest of the patrol went good until the last minutes. Aster and Cedric were standing in front of another moonlight window, waiting for Eileen and Montague to meet up with them so they could trade off what happened in the night then switch with the sixth years. While waiting, Aster leaned against the windowsill, and stared out at the moon. There were no stars in the sky tonight, and it saddened her. The moon looked lonesome out in the dark sky by itself. Feeling Cedric next to her, Aster turned her head to ask if everything was alright, but soon his lips were pressed against hers. Aster was stunned. She's never kissed anybody before, at least not on anywhere but the cheeks. Once in a while her best friends would kiss her forehead, but she's never experienced _this_ before. Cedric's hands slowly started to place themselves on her hips, and she could feel how nervous and shaky they were. His palms were slightly sweaty, but otherwise strong feeling. After the shock wore off, Aster allowed her own hands to slowly lift until they were wrapped around his neck. Cedric's lips tasted of strawberry from the treacle tart he ate after dinner, and she could feel them moving against her own. Feeling her back being pressed against the rock windowsill, Aster started to move her lips against his. The tip of his tongue pressed against hers, and she slowly granted him access. She could feel him smile against her as their tongues met in unison.

"I-I'm sorry," Cedric said once they pulled apart for air, "I don't know what overcame me. I just saw you standing there, and you looked so beautiful in the moonlight, and then I just – I just had to kiss you."

Grinning, Aster felt like such a dork by placing her fingertips against her lips. She was sure that her face was just as red as Cedric's, but she found herself smiling at him. "It's alright," she admitted, "I was sort of hoping you would."

"Really? Do you mean that?" when she nodded her head, Cedric's face lit up and his eyes brightened. Aster wanted him to kiss her again. "In that case, would you accompany me to Hogsmeade on Halloween?"

Biting on her lower lip, Aster wondered if her grin would ever fade. "I'd love to," she nodded her head.

"Hey, we woulda been here earlier, but we caught some stupid firsties tryna – what happened? Why do you two look so stupid?"

Glaring at Montague, Aster berated herself. Of course Montague would be the one to ruin the happy mood, "None of your business, Montague!"

Glancing between the now purple-faced Cedric and the equally blushing Aster, Eileen released a loud squeal. "Aww, yay, Cedric finally asked you out, didn't he? He's been dying to since last year, you know, and then when he found out that – what?" Eileen stopped talking when she saw the deadly look that Cedric was giving her, the amused look from Aster, and the bewildered look from Montague. "Oh," she seemed to realize that she gave away more information than Cedric intended for Aster to find out.

Montague growled at Cedric then narrowed his eyes at Aster. "I'm going back to the dungeons already."

"I should head back to the Gryffindor tower too," Aster shyly announced.

Nodding his head, Cedric grinned at her. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," she nodded her head back. Blushing as she passed a smirking Eileen, Aster quickly muttered out, "Goodnight, Eileen."

"Goodnight, Aster."

Halfway to her common rooms, Aster was pulled into an alcove. "What the hell, Montague! Get off of me!"

Releasing the struggling girl, Montague snarled at her. "What the hell, Black? You and Diggory?"

"What's it matter to you?" a sudden queasy feeling took over her, and Aster blanched as she remembered what George said when she suggested that Lily Evans probably fell for James Potter. "Oh, Merlin, you don't harbor some secret crush for me, do you?"

"Get over yourself!" he hissed.

"Oh thank, Merlin!" sighing with relief, Aster leaned forward until her hands were resting on her knees. The last thing she needed was Montague to have a crush on her. That would be too horrible. "I mean, you did ask me out in third year, so I thought that – ugh!" she shuddered.

Frowning, Montague was still scowling at her. "Glad to know you think so highly of me, Black. But no, I assure you, I'm not pining after you."

"Good! Then what the hell is all of this about?"

"I thought you and Adrian had something…"

"Me and-?" Aster frowned. She thought so too. She also thought that she and Adrian had something. Since first meeting Adrian on the train in first year, she wanted to be with him. But then she started spending time with Cedric, and Adrian started to avoid her. When Cedric kissed her she didn't even think about Adrian. Actually… she didn't think about him until Montague mentioned him. She felt sort of guilty, but she liked the idea of being with Cedric, and she wouldn't let Adrian's friends ruin it for her…or thoughts of Adrian. "You mean Pucey?"

"No, I mean the other Adrian that I consider my friend," Montague scoffed.

Folding her arms over her chest, Aster glared up at Montague. "I thought so too, Montague, but it's sort of hard to be with someone who avoids you. Besides, I happen to _like _Cedric; he's a nice guy, and he's respectful, and I like how he makes me feel. Plus he's – you know what," as if only just realizing who she was talking to, Aster lifted her chin, "I don't owe any explanation to you. Or to Pucey. Being with Cedric is my decision, and I don't have to explain my reasoning to you or to anyone else."

Leaving Montague alone and fuming in the alcove, Aster ran the rest of her way to the Gryffindor common room. The last thing she needed was a pissed off Montague coming after her. She wasn't scared of him, she just had a strong feeling that the professors would side with him if she hexed him to the point where he was nothing more than a stretched out pancake. Seeing that only a few people remained inside of the common room, Aster ran up to her own room. Ignoring her roommates while they talked about how much they wanted to just torture Oliver for torturing them, she pulled out her pajamas then went to take a shower. The shower was the one place where she could think about everything without judgment. Leaving her fresh clothes on the bench outside of the shower, Aster hung up the towel then turned the hot water on as high as it could get. Stripping her clothes off, she already started to think about everything that just happened.

The water burned as it touched her, but she welcomed the stinging sensation. After a while it'll only become numb. The honey scent of her shampoo started to fill the air, and Aster thought about Cedric. She's always noticed him. They met on the train to Hogwarts in their very first year, but only at a quick hullo. From their first year up they've had the occasional class together, but there's never been anything truly important between them. They would talk once in a while when partnered in a class, or they would sit at the same table in the library, but other than that she didn't know much about him before this year. Before this year she only knew a couple of facts about Cedric Diggory: he's a half-blood, he's the golden boy of Hogwarts, he's in Hufflepuff, he plays Quidditch, and he's handsome. How was Cedric able to have a crush on her from last year, when she didn't even know that much about him until this year?

Thanks to the one night a week that they patrol together, Aster knew a lot more about Cedric. She knew that his mum was a muggle, and that his parents met when his dad was on an errand for the Ministry in the muggle London. He apparently got lost and asked Cedric's mum for help. Cedric's mum didn't learn she married a wizard until Cedric started to show signs of magic when he was a month old, but his mum didn't care; she loved his dad. Aster learned that Cedric went to a muggle primary school before Hogwarts, and that he used to play football. She knows that he wants to become a muggle doctor, and she knows that he loves muggle music more than wizarding music. Rinsing her hair clean from the conditioner, Aster smiled to herself. She also knows that, as much as she tried to deny it, she started to see Cedric as more than a friend from their third patrol together. It was the week after he confessed he wanted to be a muggle doctor, and they found a couple of third year Slytherins snogging behind a statue of a knight. Unlike everyone else, Cedric gave the young couple a warning then told them to run back to the dungeons before anyone else caught them. Anyone else would have gloated at the chance to give Slytherins detention, but Cedric was different – he felt they deserved a chance. _They're only being young,_ he told her with a blush on his cheeks.

Aster also knew that she was confused. A part of her still liked Adrian – there's something about never forgetting your first crush – but then a bigger part of her liked Cedric. She wouldn't have given in to the kiss if she didn't like Cedric, nor would she have agreed to go on a date with him on Halloween, but since Montague brought up Adrian… she thought of him and his charming smile. Aster had no doubt that Adrian knew by now that she was with Cedric, but she didn't find herself caring as much as she thought she would. She and Adrian had a weird type of friendship, even before this year, but since hearing that Aster knew their dads were best of friends, Adrian's been trying his best to avoid her. Their patrols together went from talking about everything they could think of to simple few worded conversations about classes. It was like they were both aliens in someone else's skin, and Aster couldn't handle that anymore. Why should she give up her happiness with Cedric when Adrian didn't even think of her as a friend anymore? She's been trying to deny her feelings for Cedric for a little over a month now just because she didn't want to feel like she was betraying Adrian. But how she can betray what never was?

The showers were filled with scents of honey and blueberries, and Aster stood in front of the mirror while drying her hair. The shower had her entire body tinged red, but the blush was still visible on her face. Feeling too hyper to sleep, and knowing that she had to tell her friends about her first kiss before they found out from the entire school, Aster left her dirty clothes in the hamper for the house-elves, then she walked up the stairs and entered the boys room. She could see that all the boys already had their curtains drawn. Normal girls would feel weird about entering a room filled with boys this late at night, but she was already used to it. Aster's been doing this since first year, and she knew for a fact that Hermione did the same every once in a while. Granted, Hermione mostly went into Ron and Harry's room during the day, but there were a few times when Aster overheard Seamus and Dean complaining about Hermione's snores keeping them up all night. When she confronted Hermione about it, the younger girl cried about a nightmare that she had so she snuck in the room because Harry and Ron always make her feel better. The idea made her smile because it reminded Aster of her own relationship with her own friends. Even when she was staying at the Burrow over the summer, she would sometimes sneak into the twins' room to sleep and vice versa. There was nothing sinister about it. People don't question it if two girls sleep in the same bed, so Aster didn't feel they had the right to question it if she slept in the same bed as any one of her friends.

Tugging at the black cottoned shorts she was wearing, Aster pulled at the white tank-top as well. Reaching Fred's bed, she pulled open the curtains. "Fred," she whispered, not wanting to wake up Kenneth, "Fred!"

Opening his eyes, Fred stared up at her. "I'm up, I'm up! We just laid down. What's up?"

"Meet me at Lee's bed," not saying anything else, Aster made her way to George's bed. "George, wake-"

"Wake up, and meet you at Lee's bed," George said, already sitting up. "Yeah, yeah, I heard you."

The curtains to Lee's bed suddenly flew open, and Lee was sitting on the edge of his bed wearing nothing more than smiley faced boxers. "Is there a reason why we're all meeting on my bed?"

"And am I expected?" Kenneth shouted from behind his own shut curtains.

Laughing, Aster shouted back, "No!"

"Thank Merlin," the boy yawned. "Put up silencing spells, will ya? I'm bloody tired."

Still laughing, Aster suddenly felt in a better mood again. It saddened her that she didn't have any close girlfriends to run to with the gossip of her first kiss, but she was still giddy and excited to share it with her best friends. It only felt right that she told them all about it first. Maybe after the rumors spread, she can indulge with Angelina, Katie, and Alicia… Maybe even Hermione… bouncing on her knees on Lee's bed, Aster bit her bottom lip while watching Fred shut the curtains behind him then place a silencing spell on it.

George yawned, and gave Aster a funny look. "What's got you all in a good mood?"

"CEDRIC KISSED ME!" she shouted as loud as she could, grateful for the silencing spell. She was sure she would have woken up the entire Gryffindor tower with the way she yelled. She was still bouncing on her knees.

Fred, George, and Lee suddenly had dropped jaws and wide eyes. The three boys remained silent while blinking and watching the excited girl still bouncing on her knees on the bed. Fred was the one to speak first. "What?"

"Cedric kissed me!" Aster eagerly repeated again.

"When?" asked Lee with a high-pitched voice.

"Tonight," she grinned, "Right when our patrol was done. We were waiting for Eileen and Montague at where we usually meet, and I was leaning against the windowsill staring at the moon, and then HE KISSED ME!" she started the story off in a calm yet eager voice, but when she reached the ending, her voice turned into a high squeal. "Can you guys believe it? My first kiss! And it was with Cedric, and it was all romantic with the moon on us, and my back against the wall, and-"

"You – you came in here, practically waking us up this late at night, to tell us that Diggory kissed you?" George seemed to finally find his voice. He was pale and clutching tightly onto the edge of his shirt.

Aster rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on… you guys are my only friends – my best friends. Who else would I wake up this late at night to tell about my first kiss? Besides, it's probably going to be all over school tomorrow."

"That bloody prat!" Fred and Lee both jumped up at the same time. "I never figured Diggory the type to go around bragging about these sorts of things-"

George's voice was dangerously low, "-brew a poison-"

"-lock him with a hippogriff-" Lee's eyes were filled with mischief.

"-call on a vampire-" Fred's fingers were twitching.

"-Snape has plenty-"

"-Malfoy will help me-"

"-it owes Dad-"

"-he'll choke up blood-"

"-it can scratch off his bits-"

"-sparkle in the sun-"

"-slip it into his pumpkin juice-"

"-Buckbeak-"

"-clingy girls-"

Frightened by everything her friends were saying, Aster finally stopped bouncing. "No!" she said, getting them to all stop planning the demise of her new, and first, boyfriend. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that it'll be all over school tomorrow, because Montague and Eileen sort of found us right after we kissed and Cedric just asked me out. We were both blushing and slightly panting. Montague threw a huge fit, and Eileen started to ramble about how Cedric's like me since last year, and she was hoping he would finally work up the nerve to ask me out."

The three boys' eyes still twitched. "So, you guys kissed, he asked you out, and you said yes?" Aster nodded her head. "So you're dating Diggory, then?"

"Yep!" she nodded her head again, grinning once more.

"-during breakfast-"

"-claw at his pretty boy face-"

"-clingy girls, clingy girls everywhere-"

"-choke, Diggory, choke on the poison-"

"-bite out his tongue, Buckbeak, bite it out-"

"-a stake through the heart, and flames. Flames-"

Groaning, Aster's grin dropped again. "Okay, seriously, you guys are as bad as Montague. You guys will not kill Cedric."

"Aster, you can't just go around dating boys that we don't approve of!" Fred scolded her with a wag of his finger.

Lee's hands were on his hips, "You are too young to be running around and snogging boys underneath the moonlight, young lady!"

"And Diggory of all people!" scoffed George. "He's a Hufflepuff – a Hufflepuff. What the hell's a Hufflepuff, anyway?"

Aster's good mood was entirely gone. "I don't know!" she scowled. "And thanks a lot guys. I came here hoping you guys would make me feel better after what Montague said. You guys are my best friends, so I wanted to tell you all about my first kiss, and that I have my very first boyfriend. I mean, Lee, I listened to you talk for hours all about your first kiss with that muggle girl who lives on your street. I was a friend and I listened to you. I was excited to have my first kiss, and I was hoping you guys would be excited for me! But no, you guys had to ruin everything, _everything_!"

"Aster-"

Dodging Lee when he tried to reach out for her, Aster jumped out of the bed, "No!" she cried out, "Leave me alone!"

"Aster!" the twins cried out after her.

Ignoring the pleading cries of her supposedly best friends, Aster ran down the stairs. The Golden Trio was still in the common room, but Aster ignored them as well. Running through the portrait, Aster heard the Fat Lady calling back to her as she slammed the portrait shut behind her. Running through the halls of Hogwarts, Aster saw Max Yama and Jamie White through her blurry vision. Jamie was only a year older than Aster, and in Gryffindor. She could see the worry in her friend's face, but Aster ignored her and Hufflepuff's Yama, as she continued to run. Once positive that nobody was following her, Aster ran out into the cold night. Making sure to clear her mind from all thoughts, Aster thought strictly on her animal form. Only a few seconds later she started to feel her body rippling through the change. Her body started to hunch forward, while her pale skin began to stretch. Her hair began to weave around her body, painting her with its strands, and Aster could feel her weight go from light to heavy. The padded paws beneath her legs started to run, and Aster no longer cared where she ran to… as long as she was running.

Sirius was walking through Hogwarts grounds, enjoying the illuminating light of the moon above him. The moon was curved, so he knew he didn't have to worry about Remus being out to kill anybody tonight, or even sensing him. The Dementors were too high up in the sky, and Sirius knew that they couldn't sense him even if they were right in front of him – that was how he escaped Azkaban after all. While walking he saw his niece. She was running from somebody. He noted that she took a simple glance to look back at the castle behind her, and then she looked forward again and started to run. Her face started to relax, and Sirius froze. He knew what she was doing. She was transforming. Glad that the Dementors wouldn't be able to sense her anymore, Sirius was also worried as to why his niece felt the sudden urge to run out of Hogwarts and transform.

He gasped when he saw what she changed into. The tattoo on her lower stomach – his niece was a black tiger. The creatures were rare in both the muggle and magical world. Black tigers have been spotted only a total of twelve times through both muggle and magical history. Sirius had never spotted a black tiger before, and he always believed them to be a myth. He knew now how wrong he was though. When you take the form of an animal when trying to become an Animagus, you have no say in what form you take. The potion mixes in with your mind and personality, and if you do everything correctly your body begins to take form of your spirit animal. Sirius felt his insides swell up with pride as he realized that his niece's spirit animal was a rare breed of black tiger. He knew that his brother would be proud as well. Wanting to run after his niece, but feeling that it would be better if he didn't cross the path of an angered tiger, Sirius decided to run in the opposite direction. There would be another time for him to confront the young witch – a time when she didn't weigh nearly four hundred pounds.

Aster continued to run throughout the Forbidden Forest. She's been in here enough times to know what sections to avoid, and she also knew enough about it to know that nobody would find her… especially not when she blended into the night. She could sense the Dementors above her, and now she knew how her uncle was able to escape Azkaban – the Dementors could be right in front of an Animagus and they wouldn't even know it. Aster also knew that her uncle was among the grounds with her tonight, but she didn't have the patience or the will to deal with him right now. She felt betrayed by her friends. She knew she was being dramatic but she felt as betrayed as her uncle must've felt when he realized Pettigrew betrayed their own group of friends. The boys may not have given her up to be killed, but they might as well have. She trusted them, and then they hurt her.

It was understandable that they didn't approve of her dating, they were like brothers to her and over-protective, but couldn't they have at least pretended to be happy for her in that moment. They could have at least smiled for her, or congratulated her on having her first kiss and her first boyfriend in the same night, but no… they had to ruin it for her. They were the ones who were supposed to make things better in the end, not be the ones that ruin everything.

After what felt like hours of running, Aster slowly made her way back into the castle. It wasn't until she reached the Gryffindor tower that she even bothered to turn back into her human self. "Oh, Merlin, Aster!"

Jumping back in surprise when the arms threw themselves around her, Aster looked up at Angelina in shock, "What's going on?"

"Fred, George, and Lee have been setting off the alarms all night by trying to get into our room," Alicia explained, also pulling the confused girl into a quick hug, "It wasn't until Hermione came up here that they finally believed you ran out of the common room."

"They're worried as hell about you," Katie sighed, also pulling Aster into a hug.

"They told us that you four got into an argument because they're bloody gits," Angelina smiled softly, "We only finally just got rid of them half an hour ago. Where did you go?"

"What happened?" asked Katie, pulling Aster onto her bed, "And why are you so sweaty?"

Looking down at her sweat and dirt ridden clothing, Aster bit her bottom lip, "Err… I sort of went running around the Black Lake?"

"Have you gone mental?" gasped Alicia, "The Dementors could have gotten to you!"

Shrugging her shoulders, Aster stood up and started to pull out clean clothes. She needed another shower again, "What exactly did they tell you?"

"Only that they were all bloody gits and you all got into a fight so you took off. They wouldn't tell us what it was about. What happened? Are you okay now?"

Sighing, Aster sat back down and started to tell her roommates all about her kiss with Cedric. The three girls had the response that she had at least been hoping for from her own best friends – they gasped in shock then started to ask her what it was like, and then they even started to talk about handsome Cedric was and that they would all help her get ready for her first date on Halloween. They continued to talk throughout the rest of the night, neither of them knowing that George laid in his own bed staring at the Marauders Map with an indigenous look on his face…

**So I like to think that I made the boys' reactions pretty legit, especially seeing as how they all love her as a best friend – and in George's opinion, more so – and that is a normal best guy friend reaction to finding out their best girlfriend has just been kissed or is dating someone new. I also had a field day with the whole vampire plotting thing. That was honestly my proudest writing moment for any fanfic that I've written. And I'm not hating on Hufflepuff, I just really love AVPM and Midnight Beast(:**

**So anywho, what do you guys think about Lupin overhearing Aster talking to Draco, or Aster going to Malfoy Manor for Christmas? What about Cedric and Aster? That came out of nowhere, right? Please review – I miss getting them ):**


	8. When Beautiful Things Fall

**So in the beginning I didn't update this story because I wasn't home for nearly a month and I didn't have my laptop with me all that time. Then before updating any of my stories I wanted to edit all of them because there were spelling and grammar mistakes. So all of the previous chapters have been edited and fixed up completely(:**

**This was originally a 20 paged chapter that had a confrontation between Aster and Lupin, the Hogsmeade date, and Halloween night, but while editing it I've decided it would have been too much to put into just one chapter for all of you. So I split the chapter in half (sort of) and decided to just put the beginning part of the chapter up now. Editing it that's why helped me to see that putting this in with a lot of other important things would be hell for you guys as readers… so this chapter is actually pretty short, but it's still really good, and important(:**

When Beautiful Things Fall

Sitting between Angelina and Katie, Aster picked at a scone on her plate. She wasn't all that hungry, and everyone around her knew that something was wrong. All of Gryffindor woke up during the night when Fred, George, and Lee all drew attention to themselves by constantly trying to make their way up the to the girls' dorms, and the alarms kept ringing while the trio all shouted out in frustration every time the stairs would turn into a slide. Even if everyone in her house hadn't heard the three boys shouting for her to forgive them for being gits, they still would have known something was wrong. Aster had never walked into the Great Hall without at least one of her best friends by her side before, and the way that the girls all sat around her made it obvious that they weren't saving any seats for the boys. The rest of Hogwarts quickly noticed it as well, and soon the whispers could be heard.

Aster's mood didn't approve when Montague and Adrian entered the Great Hall. Adrian avoided looking her way, whereas Montague sneered at her and mouthed a very crude word. "Pucey's just upset that Cedric beat him to you," Alicia whispered from across the table, "Don't let them get to you, Aster."

Nodding her head, Aster started to stab at her bacon with a fork, "I'm not."

"Are you still upset at the boys?" Katie didn't even wait for Aster to reply before she sighed, "Don't worry, Aster, they'll get over it. Of course George is going to be taking it hard, but the other two just don't know how to react to their sister dating someone. I'm sure that even Percy would be acting the same way if Ginny came home with a bloke."

Snapping her head up, Aster frowned, "Why would George be taking it hard?"

Katie shared a nervous glance with Angelina, and the darker girl rolled her eyes, "Well, you're all just so close like family, ain't you? Oh, look, here comes Cedric."

Lifting her head in the direction that her friends were staring at, Aster saw that Cedric was approaching their table. Smiling, she awkwardly waved her hand at him. Watching as his lips curled into another one of his bright dimpled grins, Aster's mouth watered at the reminder of his taste. "Good morning," she greeted him.

Still grinning, Cedric sort of bowed his head at her, "Good morning, Aster. Hullo, ladies!"

Giggling at the way that Cedric greeted them, Angelina waved at him, "Hey, Cedric."

"Aster," Cedric turned all of his attention on the girl who was still playing with her food. "Is everything alright?"

Quickly nodding her head, Aster finally sighed, "Yeah, I'm just a bit tired. I hardly got any sleep last night."

"Oh," Cedric blushed, "About that, so we're still on for-"

Cedric was cut off in that moment because Jamie White was soon running towards them, "Aster Black, you nearly gave me a heart attack last night when I saw you run out of the castle. Yama and I were both scared for you. We didn't know why you were crying, or why you were running. Then I had to find out from the entire house that you got into a fight with the boys. What in Merlin's name happened last night?"

"You were crying?" Cedric's head snapped up.

Blushing, Aster wished she could just run away once again. "Sorry, Jamie, I didn't mean to frighten you or Yama, but I just didn't want to talk to anybody."

"Why were you crying?" Cedric asked. It was obvious that they were now drawing attention to the Gryffindor table. The Hufflepuffs all looked on in amusement, the Ravenclaws watched with confusion, the Gryffindors were all sort of eager, and the Slytherins tried to set them all on fire with their scowls.

"I got into a fight with the boys," Aster replied in a tired voice, "It isn't that big a deal. I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?" Jamie asked Aster. She folded her arms over her chest to show that she didn't believe her friend not one bit.

Aster nodded her head with a small smile, "Yes, Jamie, I'm sure."

"Did you guys fight because of us?" Cedric asked in a low voice. His face was crimson as he started to scratch at the back of his neck. It was obvious that he wished the entire Great Hall had better things to do than to stare at them. "I mean… was it because of what happened last night?"

Jamie turned to Cedric in confusion, "What are you talking about, Diggory? What happened last night?"

Seeing that Aster didn't know how to answer, Cedric avoided looking at anyone on the Gryffindor table, "I asked Aster out last night, and she said yes!"

"Oh," quickly smiling, Jamie turned back to her younger friend, "Cedric Diggory, eh? Not bad, Aster."

Wishing she could just bury herself into the platter of scrambled eggs, Aster muttered, "Thanks, Jamie…"

"So…" Cedric looked back down at his classmate, "Was it because of that? Did you and your friends fight because we're going out now?"

"Sort of," Aster slowly nodded her head. Seeing the sudden hurt in Cedric's eyes, Aster gave him a reassuring smile, "I don't care though, Cedric. I don't regret last night, nor am I going to allow them to ruin this for me – for us. So we're still on for Hogsmeade, right?"

Relief quickly flooded Cedric's face and he smiled down at her once again, "Are you sure, Aster? I mean, I know you're really close to them."

"I thought so too…"

Seeing Aster frown once more, Katie looked up at Cedric, "They're just gits, Cedric. Everyone knows how they take Aster like a sister, and I guess they just never thought the day would come when she would start dating."

"And I'd stay away from any drinks if I were you," Kenneth announced, walking past them, "I heard George muttering something about Snape's classroom last night. You should also avoid Buckbeak… and any strikingly handsome person who avoids sunlight…"

Rolling her eyes, Aster scowled at the snickering Kenneth when she could see Cedric actually gulping in fear, "I meant what I said last night, Cedric, I really would love to go to Hogsmeade with you. That is, if you still want to."

Staring down at Aster, Cedric could see the genuine sincerity in her eyes. Glancing over at Kenneth he could see the annoyance in his eyes, but then he saw the eagerness and the giddiness in Aster's roommates' eyes. The other Gryffindors all looked as if they didn't know how to react. "Of course," he grinned, "I asked you out didn't I?"

"Great!"

Squealing out in excitement, Angelina clapped her hands together. "Perfect! Goodbye, Cedric, we're going to talk about you now!"

Blushing, Cedric laughed and nodded his head, "I'll see you in class, Aster."

"See you," Aster smiled back, also blushing.

Aster saw the incredulous looks coming from all of her housemates and she groaned. Now they knew why she and her friends got into a fight last night. Jamie ended up sitting with them, while Ginny and Hermione also quickly ran over to sit next to them. Harry and Ron both looked shocked while sitting with Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Chancing a quick look around the Great Hall, Aster saw that everyone in Hufflepuff was smiling at her – minus a few jealous looking girls – whereas all of Ravenclaw was mixed between glaring at her and smiling at her. Then there was Slytherin… the snakes of Hogwarts didn't even bother to hide their annoyance at her. Draco seemed to be the only one who didn't bother sneering at her. Draco and his friend Blaise – they were the only ones who stared at her in confusion but offered her a small smile.

"You and Cedric," Ginny beamed, "Oh, I can't believe it. How did it happen? How did he ask you out?"

Hermione seemed to have stars in her eyes, "Oh, that's so cute, Aster. I saw the way he's been staring at you lately."

"I want details, Aster! Lots and lots of details! Did he kiss you?" Jamie was also eagerly leaning forward, waiting for as many details as she could get.

Grinning, Aster nodded her head and blushed. As much as it pained her to think about it, this was the reaction she had been hoping for from her own best friends. This was the reaction she got from her roommates, but she still wished this was how her own best friends reacted when she told them what happened. It was this very reason that proved why she should have best girlfriends instead of best guy friends. Hopefully Hermione doesn't go through this with her own bloody best friends. "He kissed me right after our patrol ended last night. He asked me out after."

"He kissed her in the moonlight," Alicia sighed dreamily, "And then he told her that she just looked so beautiful that he couldn't control himself."

Hermione and Ginny both squealed excitedly, while Jamie sort of stared across at Cedric in awe. When Aster looked back, she could see that Cedric was now being questioned by his own group of friends as well. "How was it?" Jamie suddenly asked. "Was that your first kiss?"

Seeing that everyone at their table was now staring at them, and trying to listen in, Aster blushed again. "Can we talk about this later? We have to get to our classes right now, anyway."

After telling Jamie, Hermione, Ginny, and even Lavender and Parvati that they would talk to them later on that night, the four fifth year girls all made their way to Defense. Professor Lupin gave Aster a hardened glare, but she only ignored him and sat next to Alicia. Slowly the rest of the class began to pile in, and when Aster felt Alicia elbowing her, she looked up to see her three best friends all standing at the doorway and staring at her. Scowling at them, she turned away and stared up at Professor Lupin. Professor Lupin was one of the professors in the Great Hall who watched the scene at her table in the morning, so she knew that he heard everything, but he looked confused at the whole idea of her not sitting with one of the twins or with Lee. The Slytherins all seemed to be confused too.

"We're going to learn about counter-jinxes today," Professor Lupin announced once everyone was seated.

"Fred's trying to get your attention," Alicia whispered to Aster.

Shrugging her shoulders, Aster whispered back, "Fred can get bent. I'm trying to learn about counter-jinxes."

"Who can tell me what counter-jinxes are? Yes, Mr. Pucey?"

Craning her head back so that she could see Adrian, Aster saw that he had his head turned completely towards the professor so that he wouldn't have to see her, "A counter-jinx can remove or undo a jinx. Jinxes are normally used in self-defense, and is similar to a curse but not as powerful."

"Yes, that is correct. Five points to Slytherin. Now, who can name at least five different types of counter-jinxes?" there was a silence… then, "Mr. Weasley?"

Aster didn't even bother to turn around to see who was answering this time. She did notice though, that Adrian still wouldn't look her way. "I know that Madam Pince has a counter-jinx on all of the library books to protect them from the students, and then there's a counter-jinx spell in broom varnishes to protect a broom from being damaged by any curses or jinxes. There's an anti-disapparation jinx, a finger removing counter-jinx, and my brother told me about a counter-jinx that they use on the reserve to keep from being burnt alive every time a dragon sneezes near them."

"That is correct, Mr. Weasley," Professor Lupin seemed to be impressed that George knew what he was talking about, "Five points for Gryffindor. I want all of you to take your wands out. Today we're going to be practicing the Impediment Jinx. Who knows what that is? Yes, Montague?"

"It's a spell to slow someone down," Montague said. Aster didn't bother to even look his way, but she heard Alicia snort in surprise that Montague knew the answer.

"Correct. Take a point for Slytherin. Repeat after me – _Impedimenta_!"

"_Impedimenta_!" the class all said in unison.

"Again."

"_Impedimenta_!"

"Good, good, that's very good so far. Now I want all of you hold your wands up in the air, and keep it steady. Now repeat the spell a few more times."

"_Impedimenta_! _Impedimenta_! _Impedimenta_!"

After a minute of repeating the incantation, Professor Lupin stepped out from behind his desk. Picking a piece of parchment up from off the desk he held it up in the air, "Now everyone watch me…" getting his wand ready, Professor Lupin released the parchment and focused his wand on it, "_Impedimenta_!" the parchment immediately stopped falling through the air. Gracefully swaying back and forth, it remained in place. "When you keep your wand steady like this the object no longer falls, but if you slowly direct your wand," Aster watched in awe as the parchment started to slowly fall as gently as a flower petal falls when it's withering and dying. She saw that happen once – only once. It was at one of her foster homes when she was six. The rose petal was browning and wrinkling. It was old and dead already, but it held on to the rose until one day it just couldn't hold on anymore. The petal came loose and it seemed like an entire hour passed by before it finally reached the grass.

"Professor?"

Lifting his head in the direction of the soft voice, Professor Lupin picked the parchment up off the ground, "Yes, Miss Black?"

"I know that as a child we all have our bouts of accidental magic, but is there a limit on the magic, or on the spells?"

Professor Lupin frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Every time I hear someone talking about the accidental magic they used to use, it's usually always the same thing – they turned someone's hair a different color, they managed to bring the cookie jar off of the counter, they were able to fly onto the roof of their school, they made their dad's work papers disappear, or they somehow turned the cat into a toad… everyone went through the same bouts of accidental magic, but is it possible for something else to happen?"

"It is," leaning against his desk, Professor Lupin crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm assuming that something different happened with you?"

Seeing everyone staring at her now, everyone but Adrian, Aster blushed and nodded her head. "I was living with the Morgans. At least I think that was their name. I was six at the time, and I only stayed with them for three weeks. It was my second day living there that I found a dying rose in their yard. When I first saw it, it was a pale red color and slowly curling in from old age and no love. Gradually it started to turn paler and paler until it was a burnt looking color. There were holes in the petals and soon the petals were all falling off one by one… except for the last one. One petal held on for as long as it could. My foster parents were never home, so I stayed with the rose all day. The day before I left though, the petal gave up and it fell."

There was an unexplainable look in the professor's eyes. It was a distant and reminiscent look and yet it was filled with so much despair and hatred all at once. "Did you freeze it, Miss Black? Did you stop the petal from falling?"

"I think I only slowed it down," Aster shook her head, staring into her professor's conflicted eyes, "It fell, but it took an hour before it touched the grass. I always thought that it was just the imagination of a child, but now that we're learning this spell I'm curious. Is it possible that at only six years old I performed this spell to prevent the last rose petal from falling?"

Professor Lupin nodded his head, "I've seen it happen before. One of my friends," Aster's body tensed as she heard and saw the meaning behind his words, "We were playing a game of Quidditch one day and a bird suddenly just stopped flying. Until this day I don't know why, but it just suddenly stopped. My friend, he didn't even have his wand on him but he just stared at the bird so that the bird suddenly stopped falling. All of us, we didn't know what was happening to it, but my friend – he just kept staring at that bird until an hour later it finally touched the ground gracefully. Is that what you did, Miss Black, did you stare at the rose petal the entire time?"

"Yes."

"When we asked him about it later, why he wouldn't look away from it, he said that he didn't want to see it fall. My friend hated it when beautiful things fell. And the idea of the bird falling… well, he just couldn't handle it."

Aster felt everything inside of her turn cold. _My friend hated it when beautiful things fell… he said that he didn't want to see it fall… my friend hated it when beautiful things fell…_ Aster could feel the little pieces of the scone that she had for breakfast trying to make its way back up out of her throat. The class was now performing the spell all around her, but she ignored all of it – all she could focus on was the idea of her uncle hating beautiful things that fell. Because it was obvious that's the friend that Professor Lupin was talking about. Why else would he have the reminiscent look in his eyes as she told her story? Why else would he be staring at her in confusion and fear right now? Because she just showed proof of her blood relation to Sirius Black… Sirius Black once hated it when beautiful things fell, and yet – yet he turned into a monster.

"Aster…"

Lifting her head up, Aster saw Alicia standing up and staring at her. "I'll meet up with you later," Aster said once she realized the class was dismissed, "I need to talk to Professor Lupin."

Nodding her head, Alicia smiled, "Angelina managed to drag Fred out. Katie's trying to deal with Lee right now, and I'll handle George."

"Thanks," Aster chuckled. Waiting until the class emptied out except for her and the confused professor, Aster remained seated, "Professor?"

"Yes, Miss Black?"

Looking up, Aster met the conflicted eyes once more, "Was he beautiful?"

"Was who beautiful?"

Aster refused to look away, "Sirius… was he beautiful once?"

"Why are you asking me?"

Aster still refused to look away, "I hate it when beautiful things fall too, you know. Every night that I would spend at the orphanage I would stare out my window. All of the other girls around me would coo and aww whenever we would see a shooting star. Mrs. Cole would always tell us to close our eyes and make a wish, but I would only cry instead. Do you know why I would cry, Professor?"

The light brown eyes were darkened and filled with so much confliction that Aster wondered if the professor would ever solve the problem his mind held. "They say that a star is a million years away… that a star is something from the past. Stars are very beautiful, Miss Black, and if a star is from the past then it means that the past must have once been beautiful as well."

"I'm named after a star, Professor. All of the Blacks are. Seeing as how I wasn't raised up by any members of my family I'll never know why, but I have a theory," still sitting at her desk, Aster continued to stare directly into those conflicted eyes, "Everyone tells me that the Blacks are a proud family. We're a beautiful proud family, and we have to have only the best of everything, so my theory is that we name our children after the stars and constellations because they're beautiful, and our children will obviously be beautiful as well. I'll never be able to question if my theory is correct, but I think it is. And I think that you agree with me. Do you know why I cry when I see a falling star, Professor?"

"Because it means that beautiful things will eventually fall."

"And why do I cry when beautiful things fall, Professor?" Aster's voice had turned from strong to suddenly needy. She was craving answers to questions that she hadn't realized she had until this very moment. "Why did my six year old self refuse to watch the rose petal fall? Why do I hate it when beautiful things fall?"

Clearing his throat, Professor Lupin had a shining surface in his eyes, "Yes, he was beautiful, Miss Black. He was one of the most beautiful people that I knew. But even he knew it… beautiful things always fall!"

"But why? Why do we hate it?"

Shaking his head, Professor Lupin finally turned his eyes away from her, "He never told me. I always asked, but he never said."

"But you know, don't you?"

"I think I do."

"And what do you think?"

"You hate it when beautiful things fall, Miss Black, because you're beautiful. You come from a beautiful dark family and you try so hard to stay in the light, but you know that even beautiful things fall in the end."

Finally standing up, Aster started to slowly gather all of her things, "He tried to fight it didn't he? He was placed into Gryffindor, he hung out with James Potter, his best friend was a werewolf, and he even took in the blundering fat idiot that Pettigrew was, but no matter what he did he was always reminded of his name simply because he was beautiful, wasn't he? He was just as beautiful as the rest of them, and deep inside of him he also had that darkness that they had. He hated the idea of beautiful things falling because he was afraid that one day _he _would fall. So he helped the bird out because he hoped that when the day came for him to finally fall he would have all of his friends there to help slow the process down. He didn't want his friends to turn away from him the same way he didn't turn away from that bird. Am I right, Professor? He hated when beautiful things fell because he already knew that he was falling."

"Yes," Professor Lupin gravely said.

Turning her back on the professor, Aster walked to the classroom door then turned back to face him once more. She could see his pale features sweating in the bright classroom. "I believe that the more beautiful you are the quicker you fall. I didn't know who the Blacks were until Professor Dumbledore came to the orphanage with my Hogwarts letter, but I believed in that saying from the time I watched that rose petal fall. See, it wasn't even a beautiful petal. It was the ugliest one there, but it held on for as long as it could. The beautiful petals all fell off once the rose died – still slightly pale and red, they all fell off quickly – but that ugly little brown and withered petal clamped onto the dead rose with all its might. I didn't want to see it fall because it held on for so long that I cried because I witnessed it give up.

"A star is a million years old, Professor, but they also say that it's been falling for those million years but that it just slowly falls through the skies to earth. That means that just like the bird, and just like that rose petal, someone is watching all those stars. Someone is watching those stars every night; slowing it down as it falls to the ground. I cry when I see a shooting star because that means that the star finally gave up and could no longer hold on a million years ago, but that for a million years people have watched it, allowing it to slow down its process. I watch the stars every night, Professor, not because I like them but because I like the idea of something being a million years away from us.

"I hate it when beautiful things fall, Professor, but not because I'm afraid of falling. It's inevitable that I'm going to fall one day. I am named after a star, I am named by a star, I was born to a star, I was abandoned by a star, and I am a Black… it's already written in the sky that I'm going to fall. I'm beautiful, but not because of my features or because of the blood that runs in my veins, but I'm beautiful because I don't judge people before getting to know them. I hate it when beautiful things fall, Professor, not because my uncle and I apparently have similar feelings, but simply because nothing beautiful should ever fall. I cry when I see a shooting star because it means that the sky just lost another twinkling shine. I cried when the rose petal fell because it gave up hope, and I hate it when beautiful things fall because that's one less beautiful thing for the world to smile at.

"So yes, Professor, Sirius Black is my uncle. And yes, Professor, I do know that you're a werewolf, and yes, I do know that you and he were once best friends. Yes, Professor, Sirius and I may have a few similar thoughts, but you just helped to prove that my uncle and I are nothing alike. He hated the idea of beautiful things falling because he knew that the day would come when he would one day fall. I hate the idea of beautiful things falling because I believe the world could use more beautiful things. So I ask this of you, Professor, if you're going to hate me hate me because of the person I am, and not the person that I remind you of. Because you just proved it to me that I am not like him. And I know that you can't hate me because I remind you of my dad, because I know that you knew nothing about him. Have a nice day, Professor!"

Leaving a shocked professor in the classroom, Aster made her way to the Gryffindor towers. If only she didn't hate the boys right now – they would love hearing about what just happened.

**Mmkay, see it's short – the shortest story that you will see for the last time for this story – but it just has so many things in this shortness that it actually gave me a headache. Did any of you get the whole point of this confrontation? What do you guys think about? What did you guys think about the awkward Cedric/Aster morning after scene? I am actually in love with this chapter, and this honestly a proud moment for me as a writer in general(: please review! I've loved hearing all of your thoughts on this story so far, and I'm really anxious to hear what you guys think about this now?**

**With this part separated now though, next chapter will be easier to read through with the whole first date and Sirius breaking into Gryffindor thing now… because remember, I'm slipping away from canon(:**


	9. Unfinished Meetings

**Welcome to all you new readers and all you lovely people who have already been reading this for a while. Thank you for reviewing, favorting, and alerting this story(:**

**It's 6 in the morning, I haven't slept in over 48 hours and I've had the flu for over a week, but I just realized I haven't uploaded yet, so I'm doing it right now. I edited most of the chapter but now my nieces are waking up to get ready so for school, so there may be some spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes in the last couple of pages only. I'll have it fixed completely by the time I upload the next chapter though, so enjoy(:**

Unfinished Meetings

_Twenty-first, December, 1972_

_Severus's parents wouldn't allow him to come stay with us for the holidays. His mother told him that Christmas is a time to be with family, but Massimo and I think that his mother just can't handle the idea of being the only punching bag for much longer. I've spoken to Lily since we left Hogwarts though, and she's assured me that Severus has been spending most of his days at her house with her. Her sister is a horrid beast though. If Lily wasn't a muggle-born, and if I didn't know how much Severus needed her to be with him, I would have invited her to stay with his us as well. Lily confided in Massimo and I that her sister treats her almost in the same sense as our parents treat Sirius. Seeing as how Petunia Evans is a muggle it isn't exactly the same, but she does treat Lily as if she's dirt and as if she's nothing. Lily told us that her sister is always calling her a freak and that she talks bad about her to all of her friends. I tried explaining to Lily that Sirius might understand what she's going through, but she wouldn't listen to me. Not that I blame her. I still can't believe that I actually tried to convince her that Sirius isn't that bad of a person. – I've still got the bruise from when he and James cornered me two days before we left Hogwarts._

_Massimo is here, which is why I haven't written to you since the night before we left Hogwarts. I'm only having time to write to you right now because Massimo is sleeping. Mother and Father offered him his own room, but seeing as how James is staying here until he and Sirius leaves on Christmas morning, we both agreed that it would be safer to keep us together. Sirius isn't stupid enough to do anything to us in front of Mother and Father, but it's not as if they'll actually curse him with James here. I know that Mother and Father don't like the idea of James always being here (since it means they don't get to use Sirius as a target practice) but they don't want to have to deal with the Potters showing up on their doorstep and questioning why their son is suddenly being banned from the manor._

_I can't write long, we have to wake up early because Mother is taking Massimo and I into Diagon Alley early so we can do our Christmas shopping. I've finally decided on what I'm going to buy for Lily. I remember her talking about a pendent that she saw in a window while shopping for her school items, so after talking to Narcissa about it, she told me that girls love getting jewelry. She warned me to be careful about getting so close to a muggle-born, but I feel like I owe Lily so much. She's helped Massimo and I out so much this year. I honestly don't think I would be having as much fun at Hogwarts as I am if it weren't for her. She makes it worth all the hexes and curses that my brother and his friends send at me._

_I only hope she likes it though. It's a little flower pendent with a tiny red ruby in the center of it, and it hangs on a gold chain. I know that it's a bit too Gryffindor-ish, but she is a Gryffindor, and I think she said something about the flower being a lily as well._

_-R.A.B_

Shutting the diary and rubbing her eyes, Aster groaned. It was getting frustrating reading as many entries as she has been and not being able to confide in her best friends about it. The past week had been hell without them, but she wasn't ready to hear them just yet. The morning after all of Hogwarts found out about Cedric asking Aster out, the three boys all showed up in the Great Hall wearing flashy light purple colored robes with a bouquet of roses, daisies, and water-lilies in their hands. They even made up a quirky little dance routine to apologize for acting like a bunch of gits. But once Cedric approached the table and offered to walk Aster to class, the three boys all made gagging sounds and George could have passed as Professor Snape with the way he kept scowling. Telling the boys where they could put the flowers, Aster stood up and walked out of the Great Hall with an apologetic looking Cedric. Now she spent all of her free time locked in her room just so she couldn't be cornered by them.

In class Aster would be avoided completely by Professor Lupin, and when he thought she wasn't paying attention he would stare at her as if trying to read into her mind. Montague kept muttering snarky remarks underneath his breath every time he would walk pass her, and Adrian had apparently been too sick to patrol with her on their night, so he sent Percy in his place. Aster wasn't sure who she wanted to hex more – Adrian for sending Percy of all people, or Percy for reminiscing in that entire hour about how he and Penelope also fell in love while patrolling together in their fifth year. Now she was starting to get mixed feelings from her dad's diaries. Yes, she still hated her uncle for acting the way he did, she hates James even more, she believes that Pettigrew did in fact frame her uncle for murder, she really can't stand Lupin, and she pities Snape, but now she was starting to question everything else.

Why did this professor Slughorn bloke allow his snakes to be mistreated by the other houses? It was obvious that Slughorn favorited Lily and the Gryffindors, but he was the head of house for Slytherin – why didn't he stick up for them? How could Professor Dumbledore not see the blatant favoritism that Professor McGonagall held for her Gryffindors over the Slytherins? Was Professor Lockhart truly always a disgusting prat, and what the hell was Lily thinking when she had that month long crush on him in her second year? Why did her dad mention Lily in every diary entry of his? Why did her dad comment on how long and silky her hair was or how it glistened like burning flames when in the sunlight? Why was her dad buying Lily a pendent for Christmas after only a couple of months of knowing her? Why the hell did no one ever mention to her who her mum was?

Hearing a knock at the door, Aster jumped out of her disturbing thoughts and quickly hid her book. Shouting for whoever it was to enter, Aster smiled when she saw Hermione. "Hey, Hermione, is anything wrong?"

"Today's the first trip into Hogsmeade," Hermione shook her head.

"I know," Aster chuckled, "Angelina keeps reminding me about it every chance she's got."

"Speaking of which, Angelina said to tell you that she'll be up here in a couple of minutes to get you ready for your big date."

Blushing, Aster patted the edge of her bed, "Well, why don't you come in and sit down so we can talk about whatever reason you're really in here for?"

"Harry can't get into Hogsmeade," Hermione sighed, sitting on Aster's bed, "And Ron isn't helping it by talking about it every chance he gets."

"Just buy Harry lots of sweets," Aster smiled, "I wasn't allowed into Hogsmeade in my third year either. Mrs. Cole signed the form for me, but Dumbledore didn't feel that it was allowed seeing as how she's just an orphanage caretaker. So the twins and Lee brought back practically half of the sweetshop, and even more pranks from Zonkos."

"Oh," Hermione frowned, "Why are you allowed to go now?"

"After a bit of pestering from all of us, and a howler from Mrs. Weasley, McGonagall reminded Dumbledore that Mrs. Cole was technically the only family I had who could sign the form for me," thinking about what she just told Hermione, Aster sighed as she realized that Professor McGonagall did sometimes have her moments when she didn't treat Aster as if she were a murderer. "I wasn't allowed to the first two trips, but I've been allowed on all the others since then. Who knows, maybe Dumbledore will come around eventually and allow Harry to go," Aster didn't want to point out that Dumbledore would allow his golden boy to do anything once her uncle was sent back to Azkaban and administered the Dementors' kiss. They all knew that Harry wasn't allowed into Hogsmeade only because of Sirius Black. Even if he had his permission form signed he wouldn't have been allowed to go.

"Well, at least you're able to go now," Hermione grinned.

Taking in Hermione's outfit, Aster held back her smirk. Hermione was dressed in a brown corduroy skirt that fell to the middle of her thighs and a beige colored long sleeved shirt that hugged her body and showed off the small bumps that puberty was finally providing her with. Hermione even braided her back tightly so that no stray strands could fly around. "Hermione," Aster said in a calm and teasing voice, "Are you trying to impress Ron since the two of you will be alone today?"

"What?" shrieking in shock, Hermione looked down at her chosen outfit for the day and looked back up at her friend, "No! Oh, Merlin, is that what this looks like? I've got to change!"

Laughing, Aster reached out and grabbed Hermione's hand, pulling her back down onto the bed, "Don't you dare change your outfit, Hermione Granger, you look very lovely. I was only asking because I've never seen you so dressed up before."

"You think this is dressed up?" Hermione muttered, tugging at the shirt she wore. It had a long v-line, showing the cleavage that she had yet to form.

Chuckling, Aster nodded her head. "It is, Hermione, for you."

"It's not how you dress."

"You think that I dress up?"

"You wear shorts that show off the tattoos on your thighs, and your shirts sometimes show off the rest of your tattoos as well. Your shirts are also sometimes so tight that we can see the color of your bra underneath it. Not to mention the way the boys are always staring at you when you walk by them. I mean look at you, Aster, you're dating Cedric Diggory – the most handsome boy in all of Hogwarts."

Not sure of how to react to what Hermione said, Aster looked down at the t-shirt she wore to sleep. It reached her thighs, was covered in bleach stains from the time Mrs. Cole trusted her to do her own laundry, and she also had on a pair of baggy checkered pajama pants that she stole from Charlie's drawer.

"When I left my room this morning, I heard Lavender and Parvati laughing at me because I'm dressed like a nun."

Looking over Hermione's outfit once more, Aster chuckled, "I don't think I've ever met a nun dressed like that before, and some of my foster parents used to take me to church when I was little. Besides, you shouldn't dress to how everyone else wants you to dress. You should wear what makes you comfortable. And I don't know why Lavender's laughing – has she seen the way she dresses? That girl makes ruffles and lace look like a unicorn threw up."

Giggling, Hermione blushed, "I see the way that Malfoy looks at Pansy Parkinson sometimes and she dresses like you."

"Oh," nodding her head to show that she understood, Aster briefly wondered how Harry and Ron would feel about learning that their best friend harbored a secret crush on the bad boy of Hogwarts. She actually found it quite adorable. "And so you think that by wearing skirts and tight shirts, and brushing your hair back real nicely that Draco will notice you?"

Nodding her head, Hermione was nearly scarlet colored, "Boys never look at girls who dress with loose shirts and jeans. They only like the girls who show skin."

"Not always," Aster pointed out. "Boys like girls who are confident in the way they dress. I mean what if Lavender's on a date one day and her boyfriend wants to go hiking through the Forbidden Forest, but she's dressed in one of her frilly little dresses and her annoying heels? I'm sure she's not the type of girl who's willing to run around the forest barefooted, and I'm also sure that she's not going to want to get her dress all dirty. But you, Hermione, you're the best type of girlfriend a bloke could have – you'll already have on your running shoes, your long jeans will keep your legs protected in case you brush up against any poisonous plants plus it'll keep you nice and warm, and your shirt will be comfortable enough for you to probably climb things in. Plus you won't be afraid to get dirty. I've seen you with the boys before, Hermione, you're not afraid of a little dirt and mud. Plus I saw you a kill a spider at the Burrow because Ron was too afraid to take a shower when he saw it by the toilet."

Still blushing, Hermione tugged at the skirt she was wearing, "But everybody always teases me when I wear my jeans and my shirts, even Ron and Harry."

"Hmm," Aster tried to think of a solution for her young friend. Her eyes suddenly lit up, "I've seen you wear shorts before, Hermione. You wore shorts at the Burrow every day. Why don't you wear shorts here?"

Biting on her lower lip, Hermione slowly nodded her head, "Shorts would be more comfortable than this skirt. But I don't own any shorts as short as yours, Aster."

"Of course you don't," Aster grinned, "You wouldn't be Hermione if you did. I wear the shorts that I wear because the long ones that you wear irritate the inside of my legs. Besides, I like showing off my tattoos."

Giggling, Hermione started to tug on her shirt, "But what about my shirt."

"It's a cute shirt. Do you like it?" Hermione nodded her head. "Do you think you'll be comfortable wearing it in public where everyone can see it?"

Nodding her head again, Hermione stood up off the bed, "And do you think Malfoy will notice me?" she asked in a nervous tone. "He always watches Parkinson when she walks, but she's always wearing skirts. Do you think he'll watch me too if I'm wearing shorts instead of my long jeans?"

"I've seen the skirts that Parkinson wears, Hermione, and they're shorter than the ones I wear. Even _I _watch as she walks," raising an eyebrow in a questioning way, Aster said, "Hermione, would you ever dare to wear a skirt that short just to grab someone's attention?" when Hermione looked frightened, Aster chuckled, "That's what I thought. Don't change the way you dress just to impress someone, even if it is only halfway. You would never wear a skirt that short, so why even a wear a skirt you're uncomfortable with to begin with? And if Draco doesn't like the way you're dressed then I think it's time you found another bloke to look at."

Beaming, Hermione nodded her head, "Thanks, Aster. I'm going to go change right now. I think I'll keep the shirt on though," glancing down at the shirt once more, Hermione blushed, "Well, maybe I'll loosen it up a bit. I can see the color of my bra."

"Oh, hullo Hermione."

Looking up at the door that just flew open, Hermione smiled, "Hullo Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Jamie, if you'll all excuse me I'm going to go change my clothes for Hogsmeade," turning back once more, Hermione said, "Thanks for the talk, Aster. And about what I said-?"

"Our little secret," Aster assured her with a firm nod of her head.

"Great, thanks. See you guys later."

Shutting the door behind her, Alicia looked over at Aster, "What was that all about?"

"Just some girl talk," Aster chuckled, climbing out of her bed, "Hey, guys, I was thinking of dressing a little differently today. Hermione said something interesting."

After explaining to everyone what Hermione said about all of the boys of Hogwarts watching her because of how she dressed, Aster announced that she wanted to dress differently. She wanted to enter Hogsmeade dressed differently than normal, and she wanted to see if it made a huge difference in how the boys all looked at her. It was true – Aster did wear shorts that were extremely short, and her skirts were also shorter than most skirts, and it wasn't until Hermione pointed it out that she realized it but most of her shirts were tight enough to show the color of her bra, even with dark colored shirts. Sure, she owned long pairs of jeans, loose fitted shirts, and skirts and dresses that reached between her thighs and knees or her knees period, but Aster was always more used to wearing the shorts and other shirts. She liked how people could see her tattoos. But to prove a point to Hermione – that you will still be liked and respected for being yourself no matter how you dress – Aster told the girls that she wasn't going to be all dressed up for her date with Cedric.

It took a couple of minutes but the girls finally gave in and gave up on trying to turn Aster into some sort of doll. Deciding that she could still look cute and flirty without apparently being provocative enough in Hermione's mind, Angelina pulled out a pair of faded blue hip-huggers that had green and white bows sewed into the front pockets. It was an old pair of jeans that one of Aster's old roommates at the orphanage gave to her when she could no longer fit them. Alicia pulled out a yellow and green striped crop top with a large pair of neon pink sunglasses on the front, and a long white tank-top that reached Aster's thighs to wear underneath the crop top. After getting dressed, Aster immediately went into the mirror to make sure that nobody could see the color of her bra. She was pleased when she saw that both the crop top and tank-top were loose fitted to the point that it didn't hug her for once. After forgoing all make-up, and tying her hair up into ponytail, Aster grabbed her wand and money pouch then thanked her friends for helping her to get ready.

After slipping on a pair of comfortable sneakers, Aster ran down to the common room, rushing to meet Cedric at the entrance to the Great Hall. "Aster!"

Groaning, she turned around, "I don't have time for this, George, I'm going to be late for my date with Cedric."

Rubbing the back of his neck, George nodded his head, "Yeah, about that, look I just wanted to say I'm sorry for being a prat and making you feel like you can't come to me about things. We all are."

"I know, you've all told me," Aster said, impatiently tapping her foot, "But now really isn't the time for this. I've got to go."

Sighing in defeat, George took in Aster's outfit. "You look nice by the way, Aster. I really like that top – you should wear it more often."

Looking down at the top that she wore mostly only at the orphanage, Aster looked back up at confusion, "Erm, thanks."

"Right," George said, "Don't want you to be late for your first date with Diggory and everything. Have fun, and I can't wait to hear about it later."

"Right…" giving George one last weird look, Aster started to run towards the portrait once more. It wasn't until she heard Kenneth shouting at a first year for something that she paused and looked back, "Oi, happy Halloween George."

Spotting Harry, who was looking grim and depressed, Aster told him that she would buy him something from Hogsmeade and that George was lonely inside of the common room if he wanted to guilt him into staying back as well. After laughing and saying that he'll do just that, Harry made his way towards the Gryffindor towers and Aster started to run towards the Great Hall again.

"Miss Black?"

Groaning, Aster stopped running and turned around. Professor Lupin was standing in the corridor and looking nervously at her. "Yes, Professor?"

"Why are you running?"

"I'm supposed to meet Cedric at the entrance to the Great Hall," Aster explained, bouncing on her feet, "I'm already late as is, Professor, so if you don't mind could you please just assign me the detention or take away however many points you're going to take away for running in the halls?"

Chuckling, Professor Lupin shook his head, "I'm not going to take away house points, Miss Black. I may be a professor, but I'm still a very proud Gryffindor. So Dumbledore is still allowing you to enter Hogsmeade?"

"Yes, sir," Aster said, nodding her head in confusion. "Is there a reason why he shouldn't?"

"Well, it's just that I thought with the Dementors patrolling everywhere, and I heard that he's keeping Harry back, and after what happened with you on the train – I just didn't think he'd still allow you to go."

Snorting, Aster gave the professor a look that said she wasn't impressed, "Sure. Listen Professor, I really don't want Cedric to think that I've stood him up or anything."

"Ahh yes, you and Mr. Diggory are dating now," the professor chuckled, "Is Mr. Weasley feeling any better?"

"Why does everybody keep saying that?" Aster cried out in frustration.

"No reason," Professor Lupin chuckled once more. Looking over her shoulders, he smiled down kindly at her, "It seems you don't have to go far, Miss Black. Mr. Diggory is coming to you."

"Huh?" turning around, Aster saw Cedric walking towards them and she grinned. He was dressed in long khakis and a maroon colored turtleneck.

"I ran into Hermione," Cedric announced, approaching them. He had a slight blush on his cheeks, "And she said that you might be running a little late because she held you up while you were trying to get ready," looking up at the smirking professor, Cedric's blush deepened, "Hullo, Professor."

"Cedric," he bowed his head at him. Then looking back at the flustered Aster, Professor Lupin said, "Have fun in Hogsmeade, Miss Black. Both of you be careful now."

Nodding her head, Aster eyed him suspiciously, "Yes, sir. Come on Cedric, I missed breakfast and I'm starving."

"What was that all about?" Cedric asked Aster, taking her hand in his as he led them away from the professor who still watched them.

"He caught me running in the halls," Aster shrugged, not bothering with looking back, "And he was asking about Harry."

"Oh."

Not running into anyone on their way into Hogsmeade, Aster and Cedric talked about their classes and how much more exciting Defense was now than it's ever been. Listening more than talking, Aster enjoyed the feeling of her hand inside of Cedric's. He first held her hand the morning that he offered to walk her to class, and it became a routine of theirs. He would walk her to the classes that they shared and he would even hold her books for her sometimes. There were moments when he would walk her to the Great Hall after a class, and through it all they would always hold hands. Aster found herself blushing each time his fingers would wrap around hers, and then he would say something and her mind would get all flustered. Aster even found herself turning into one of those bloody giggling girls that she hated so much.

"Do you want to stop in the Three Broomsticks first?" Cedric asked, looking in the direction of the pub. "You said you were starving, right?"

Blushing, Aster shook her head, "I only said that so I wouldn't seem so rude for rushing to get away from Lupin, but I'm not that hungry," she lied.

Laughing, Cedric said, "Aster, I've been in school with you for five years now. I've seen you eat before, and I know that you don't like to miss a meal. Are you sure, I don't mind it?"

Nodding her head, Aster said, "I'm sure. Unless, are you hungry?"

"No," Cedric shook his head, "I ate this morning. So if you don't want to eat first, what do you feel like doing?"

Biting on her lower lip, Aster stared around at the village, "I promised Harry I'd buy him something since he couldn't come."

"You and Harry are pretty close huh?"

"I like to think so," Aster grinned, "He and I both know what it's like to grow up without knowing the truth about ourselves. Even though he grew up with family he didn't know the truth about his heritage until he got his Hogwarts letter, and I didn't know anything about my family or heritage until I got my Hogwarts letter. And then the Weasleys took us both in. He's sort of like a brother to me in a way."

"I couldn't imagine what it would be like not knowing the truth about who I am, but at least you guys sort of found each other."

"Yeah, it's nice," feeling a bit awkward with the topic of their conversation, Aster tried to think of something to do. "Do you want to check out the Quidditch shop?"

"Yeah, sure," keeping Aster's hand in his, Cedric led her to the shop that sold nothing but Quidditch items. "Do you know what Quidditch team Harry likes? I know they have all sorts of things for the professional teams."

"Not really," Aster shook her head, not wanting to explain to Cedric that Harry only watches Quidditch when at Hogwarts because his aunt is a psychotic bitch who bans everything magical. "I went in there a couple of times with Lee and the twins though, and I know they have little miniature sets of things. Do you think he'd like a miniature snitch?"

Chuckling, Cedric nodded his head, "From a Seeker's point of view, I'm confident in saying that he would love it."

Glad to be able to talk about something different, Aster asked Cedric all sorts of questions about Quidditch. Although she liked to play around with the twins for fun, Aster didn't play for the school team nor did she want to play for the school, but she loved to hear about it all the time. Because Fred and George were Beaters though, she only really knew about that position, not really bothering to have asked Harry any questions before. She would occasionally ask him how he liked it and how it was going, but it was different from how she talked to the twins. Entering the shop together, Cedric explained that the only reason he ever got into playing Quidditch in the first place was because his dad took him to his first Quidditch match when he was five, and ever since watching Kowosky grab that snitch out of the air from in front of his face he's always wanted to do that.

Aster listened as Cedric explained his position to her while she browsed around the shop. Already knowing where everything was, she avoided going to the side of the shop that sold professional team items. Looking over the brooms, the new Firebolt, and the broom cleaning kits, Aster spotted the section that sold the miniaturized Quidditch gear. There was a tiny little broom that flew around everywhere, there were tiny little bludgers, quaffles, and golden snitches, and there were even tiny little Beater bats and Keeper gloves. Deciding that she would get Harry a golden snitch that was even smaller than the original golden snitch, Aster grabbed it and continued to shop around with Cedric while he admired the Firebolt like all the other Quidditch nuts do.

After paying for the snitch, Aster and Cedric made their way through the rest of Hogsmeade. Running into a couple of their friends from Hogwarts, Aster noticed that she didn't see the twins or Lee around anywhere. They shopped in Honeydukes, they shopped around in Zonkos for a bit, and they even checked out Tomes and Scrolls for a while, buying a couple of books for Cedric. It was when they entered the Three Broomsticks for lunch though that they ran into the person Aster was most dreading to see.

"Hey, Aster."

Looking up from the table she and Cedric were sitting at, Aster saw Draco standing in front of them. "Hey, Draco," she smiled. "How's your first day in Hogsmeade so far?"

"It's alright," he shrugged. "Blaise and I checked out Zonkos, but once we saw one of the Weasley twins buying a load of stuff we ran out."

Chuckling, Aster noticed the tall dark skinned boy with indigo colored eyes standing next to her cousin. She's been noticing that Draco's been hanging out with him instead of Crabbe and Goyle for a while now – ever since the whole hippogriff incident actually. "I'm sure Fred wouldn't have done anything to you two," she assured her cousin and his friend, "Not while he's still trying to get on my good side actually."

Looking between an amused Cedric and Aster, Draco said, "Well, I guess we'll be going now. We've interrupted your date for far too long already."

Laughing, Cedric shook his head, "You're both welcome to join us if you want."

"No thanks," Draco declined the offer, "We're meeting Adrian here."

Hoping that nobody noticed the sudden way her breathing hitched, Aster slyly looked over at Cedric and saw that he was still looking up at Cedric. "Oh, Pucey's coming?"

"Yeah," Draco nodded his head. "He offered to show Blaise and I around today, but he had to stay back and work on a potion with Snape, so he's meeting us soon."

"He's going to show us the Shrieking Shack," Blaise said in excitement, his eyes lighting up as he spoke, "It's the most haunted building in all of London."

Laughing, Aster tried to fight the confused nerves she was feeling. "You sound like Hermione now. All last night she kept pestering me with questions about the place."

"We saw her looking at it with Weasley," Draco said a little too quickly. Seeing everyone staring at him, Draco blushed, "I mean we were walking past it and we noticed her and Weasley standing in front of it."

Rolling his eyes, Blaise looked up at the door, "Draco, Adrian's here now."

"Adrian!" Draco called out, waving his hand.

Trying not to kick Draco underneath the table, Aster watched as Adrian made his way to their table. Spotting who Draco and Blaise were talking to, Adrian stopped walking, took in a deep breath, and then started walking again. "Black," he quickly said, "Diggory."

"Hullo Pucey," Cedric smiled in a friendly way.

Noticing how Adrian spoke Cedric's name like venom, Aster simply said, "Pucey," she wouldn't be nice to him if he was going to keep treating her like dirt.

"Draco, Blaise, are you guys ready to go?"

Nodding his head, Draco gave his cousin a confused look, "Erm yeah. Well, bye guys. Have fun on your date."

"Thanks," Cedric said, still smiling.

Waving goodbye, Aster managed to force a smile on herself as well, "Happy Halloween Draco, Blaise."

Madam Rosmerta brought their food and butterbeers to the table once the three Slytherins left, and Cedric paid for everything. Spotting Hermione and Ron, Aster waved at them but that was as far as it went. The two looked as if they were arguing about something, but Aster was more proud of Hermione for dressing in her own comfort zone – she was dressed in a pair of brown colored jean shorts that seemed to settle between her thighs and knees. Hermione kept the same shirt on, but it was altered so that it fit her loosely, and she had her hair down and loose around her shoulders.

"So what do you usually do for Halloween?" Cedric asked, taking a bite of his burger.

Shrugging her shoulders, Aster grinned, "I just like the sweets."

"I figured as much," Cedric teased, nudging her sweets filled bag from Honeydukes. "Did you used to go trick-or-treating when you were a kid?"

"Yeah," Aster nodded her head, still grinning. Halloween was always her favorite holiday from as long as she could remember. She felt guilty for loving a holiday that she knew Harry officially hated since entering the wizarding world, but she couldn't help it – she loved it. "I remember spending only two Halloweens at a foster home, and the two families both threw these huge Halloween parties where all the guests would dress up – even the adults – and there would be all sorts of games for us kids while we got sweets as prizes. And then the Halloweens spent at the orphanage were always my favorites. There's this big trunk in Mrs. Cole's office and it's filled with all sorts of costumes for everybody. Every year she would let us dig through it and find the costume that we want to wear, and if one of the kids couldn't find a costume they could fit she would take them to a shop and buy them one then it would be thrown into the trunk for the next year. It was always exciting digging for a costume. Those of us that stayed there long enough, we always knew what was in it, but it was fun watching all of the new kids go through it as if it were some sort of treasure chest. Mrs. Cole's too old to walk around for sweets, so Miss Benson and Mr. Doyle would take all of us, but when we return there's always a large cauldron filled with hot apple cider, a tray filled with all sorts of cakes and candied apples, and there'd even be a simple little toy for each of us – a spider ring, a glow stick, a sticky eyeball, a skull ring… it always varied, but it was always so amazing."

Grinning as he watched the way that Aster's eyes lit up as she described her Halloweens in the orphanage, Cedric said, "I remember when I was little I would always choose to dress up like some sort of superhero."

"Were you a batman?" Aster asked. Seeing the way that Cedric turned red, Aster started to laugh, "I knew it. Every little boy is always a batman. I was a batman once too."

Cedric's eyes widened and he laughed, "No you weren't. Were you really?"

"I was," Aster nodded her head, "I was eight, and there were no more girl costumes that could fit me. Mrs. Cole was willing to take me to the shop and buy me one, but I didn't see the point in it. The boy costumes could fit me just fine. So I went as batman."

"Oh merlin," Cedric was still laughing. He held his hands to his stomach and his head was tilted back. Aster decided she quite liked the sight very much, "I can just picture that; a little eight year old girl wearing a batman suit."

"I loved it," Aster grinned, also still laughing.

After spending an hour in the Three Broomsticks and talking about their most memorable Halloweens spent in the muggle world, Cedric and Aster finally went back up to the school. Reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady, Cedric released Aster's hand and looked up at the portrait of the very watchful portrait. After seeming to realize she was being stared at, the Fat Lady ended up giggling then turning her back. Blushing, Aster apologized to Cedric for the portrait's behavior.

"I had a fun time today, Aster."

"So did I," she admitted, ignoring the confliction she felt when seeing Adrian, "Thanks for today."

Chuckling, Cedric nodded his head, "Would you like to do this again on the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Yeah," Aster grinned, biting her lip, "I would."

"Great. So I guess I'll see you in the Great Hall later?"

"Okay."

Watching Aster's lips, Cedric grinned and leaned in closer to her. "I'm going to kiss you now, Aster. Is that okay?"

"Okay."

Grinning as Cedric's lips connected to hers, Aster could feel the tip of his tongue sliding its way into her mouth. Just as Aster's hands started to move towards Cedric's shoulders, somebody cleared their throat then shouted, "Oi!"

Jumping apart, Cedric and Aster both flushed red and turned to see Lee and Fred standing there with their arms full of Zonkos products. Neither of them looked amused. "Right," Cedric cleared his throat, "I'll see you later then, Aster."

"Yeah," Aster nodded her head, smiling up at him, "See you later, Cedric. And thanks, again, for today. I had a wonderful time."

Grinning, Cedric said, "Me too," clearing his throat once more he avoided the glares from the two boys standing there, then he muttered, "Weasley, Jordan," and he quickly walked away.

"I don't want to hear it," Aster said, turning her back on her two best friends, "_Fortuna Major_!"

Following Aster into the Gryffindor common room, Lee and Fred both said, "We weren't going to say anything. And see how good we were, Aster, we didn't even hex him."

"Hex who?" George questioned, standing up from where he was sitting next to the Golden Trio on a couch.

"Diggory," Lee replied.

"Why would you hex Diggory?" frowned George.

"They wouldn't hex Cedric," Aster said, "They have no reason to."

"Aside from the fact that we caught him with his tongue down your throat."

"_Fred_!" Aster hissed, blushing when the Golden Trio all stared at her with wide eyes.

Seeing the looks from the younger teens, Fred shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry…" he muttered.

"Oh," George said. Aster noticed that he looked a bit deflated, "So the date went well then?"

Dropping all of her bags onto the couch next to Hermione, Aster folded her arms over her chest and stared at the three best friends she had been avoiding for a week, "Yes, it did. Now, I had a very nice day today and I don't want you three ruining it."

"Nope," George shook his head, holding his hands up in defeat. His voice and eyes didn't match his actions or words, "I told you that I couldn't wait to hear all about your date with Diggory."

Eyeing George suspiciously, Aster finally turned away from him and faced the other two – the two who ruined her second kiss. "And you two?" she questioned, "What do you have to say?"

"Erm…" seeing the look that George was giving him, Fred sighed and shook his head, "Yeah, Aster, tell us how it went."

"Yeah," Lee also said, nodding his head when George also gave him a pleading look, "We want to know all about it."

"Are you guys mocking me?"

"No," George shook his head, avoiding looking into Aster's eyes, "Really, we want to know."

"Yeah, Aster, you're our best friend. We've been trying to apologize to you all week, but you're a very hard person to talk to when you're avoiding us," Lee chuckled.

Placing his hand over his heart in a dramatic way, Fred pouted his lips, "Please Aster, forgive us for how we've been acting lately. Look, Lee and I didn't even hex Diggory when he caught him mauling you in front of the Fat Lady. We didn't shout at him or anything."

"In front of the Fat Lady?" Ron gasped, looking appalled at the idea.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione said, "I think it's sweet, Ron. Cedric was kissing her goodbye after their date. And you two did look like you were having fun when we saw you, Aster."

"Thanks Hermione," Aster smiled fondly at the younger witch. "So did you two."

"We did," Ron said, but after an elbow to his ribs from Hermione, he looked at Harry then said, "But it wasn't all that great."

Chuckling, Aster shook her head then looked back up at her three best friends, "No hexing Cedric."

"Nope."

"Never."

"Only if he beats us in the upcoming match!"

"No threatening Cedric."

"I would never."

"He's such a sweet bloke."

"Only if he beats us in the upcoming match!"

"No planning to kill Cedric."

"Of course not."

"Cross my heart."

"Only if he beats us in the upcoming match!"

"No more shouting at me for kissing Cedric."

"No more snogging him in front of us."

"He better keep his lips to his bloody self."

"No kissing him if he beats us in the upcoming match!"

Sighing, Aster shook her head fondly at Fred's responses to everything she said so far. "You guys are my best friends. I mean you can handle when it's my bloody time of the month with ease, but you get disgusted when I have a boyfriend? What is that?"

"Eww," Ron groaned.

Harry made a disgusted face, "That's gross."

"I need to get new best friends," Hermione sighed.

Chuckling, Aster said, "When I come to you three with news I expect you to be there for me – no matter what it is. Cedric is my boyfriend now, we're going to be holding hands a lot, he's going to walk me to class, and I'm going to Hogsmeade with him again – you guys have to accept that."

Aster noticed the painful way that Fred and Lee both glanced at George before nodding their heads in agreement. It was George who replied though, "But if he hurts you we get to kill him. We're allowed to talk him as your best friends, the same way that Harry and Ron would talk to whoever Hermione dates," they all noticed Hermione blanch at the thought, while Harry and Ron both snickered, "We're going to warn him, Aster. But it's our right and privilege."

"Fine," Aster sighed. Spreading her arms wide, she grinned and rolled her eyes, "I forgive you guys for being prats. And if it happens again I'm owling your mums. Now come here and hug me."

All of Hogwarts knew when Aster finally forgave her best friends because the twins actually rolled a red carpet into the great hall for her to walk on, and Lee balanced a muggle crown over her head as she walked. It annoyed Aster to no end, but when she glanced over at the Hufflepuff table she could see that Cedric was giving her a thumbs up signal and clapping along with the rest of the Great Hall for the reunion of the Golden Box. Laughing as her best friends grumbled when the girls all pushed them away so they could hear all about her date, Aster filled her roommates and Jamie in on everything. Down the table from them Harry was playing with his miniature gold snitch and laughing with his own best friends about something, and Aster looked up at the staff table to see Professor Lupin staring at her with an approving look in his eyes.

"Aster," Lee said, shoving something onto her lap underneath the table.

Looking up from where she and Angelina were talking about a muggle band, Aster saw Lee staring pointedly in her lap. When she looked down she gasped. The Marauders Map was open and showing that Peter Pettigrew was in the Gryffindor tower while Sirius Black was standing outside of it. "What?"

"Let's go," Fred whispered, pulling the map away from her.

Looking up at the staffs table, George frowned, "Lupin now knows we have his map."

Also glancing up at the table, Aster could see the confusion in Professor Lupin's eyes. He was staring in the direction of where Fred just put the rolled up map in his pocket. "He also knows I know he's a werewolf," Aster whispered, standing up as to not draw any attention to them, "I sort of called him out on it."

Lee gasped, "When the hell did you do that?"

"When you were all being gits."

Once positive that they were out of the sight of the Great Hall, the four friends all broke into a quick run. Not speaking to each other, they all ran as quickly as they could to the Gryffindor tower. Finally reaching their destination they could hear the loud growling and slashing sounds before they actually saw the large black dog. It wasn't until Aster gasped that the dog finally turned around to face them. They could all see the dark glowing eyes settled on Aster, not moving. He stopped growling, but he still had a sinister look to his face.

"Aster," George said, reaching out to grab onto her hand.

Shaking her head at George to tell him that she was fine, Aster slowly started to approach the dog. He remained still and allowed her to close the distance between them. "Uncle Sirius?"

When the dog whimpered in response, Fred said, "Be careful, Aster, we don't know for sure he won't try to hurt you. He did try killing your dad after all."

Seeing the dog growl at Fred, Aster frowned, "That's true, Fred, but he could have killed me already. The night that we got into our fight, when I ran out to the Forbidden Forest, he was there too. He gave me space though."

"It could also be because you're a bloody black tiger and he's not daft enough to approach an angry black tiger," Lee pointed out.

Aster shook her head again, "Then why isn't he attacking now?"

"That's true," George said. Looking up at the now ruined portrait, George frowned, "He needs to get inside the common room."

Lee gasped, "Pettigrew's in there. It shows him on the map."

"That's it ain't it," Aster said, speaking to the whimpering dog, "Pettigrew framed you, didn't he? You didn't really kill Lily and James Potter, did you?"

"Aster," Fred said, "People are coming."

Giving Aster's hand a quick lick, the dog barked at all of them only once and then ran out of the castle, taking one of the many tunnels that it knows about. "What the bloody hell was that?" George asked.

"That was us discovering that my uncle is innocent and that Pettigrew is somehow in Gryffindor."

Watching as Crookshanks ran after the dog, Fred frowned as his eyes widened, "And I think I know how. Quick, let's get out of here before Dumbledore and Lupin thinks you have something to do with this."

Ten minutes later the entire Great Hall was soon filled with the four houses. Dumbledore announced to everyone that they would all be sleeping in there because Sirius Black had tried to enter the castle, and Aster found herself lying in a corner with her best friends. Cedric tried to approach her to ask if she was alright, but Percy quickly sent him back to the other Hufflepuffs. The Prefects were the ones that was supposed to guard the entrance into the Great Hall, but Dumbledore told Aster that she wasn't allowed to. He made it seem as if he was concerned that Sirius had been trying to break into Gryffindor for her, but she and her best friends all knew that he thought it was possible she tried to help him break into the castle.

Smashed between Fred and George, with Lee pressed against her head sideways, Aster wrapped herself up in her sleeping bag, annoyed that she hadn't been able to take a shower yet. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were only a few people away from them, and Aster didn't feel any better when Dumbledore and Snape both stopped right in front of them to talk. "Headmaster?" said Professor Snape, "The entire third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."

"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trewlawney's room? The Owlry?"

"All searched…"

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?"

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before – ah – the start of term?" Professor Snape questioned. Aster could hear the urgency in his voice.

"I do, Severus."

Professor Dumbledore opened his mouth to say more but Ron sneezed, proving that he was still awake and the professors walked away. Not wanting to talk about anything tonight, in case the Golden Trio was listening in on them, Aster whispered to her three best friends that it almost sounded as if Dumbledore had wanted Harry to hear whatever was being said. He seemed like he stopped talking only because Professor Snape was now alerted to the fact that they were up – why else would he end up talking right next to them? Of every single area to speak in in the large Great Hall, he had to end up choosing the spot with Harry Potter in it? Fred agreed that it was weird that Dumbledore would talk about it so openly like that in an area with Harry in it, and Lee said that they could continue the talk in the morning in their own dorm room.

Curling up between her best friends, Aster's thoughts raced back to her very first date ever, her conversations with Professor Lupin, the words in her dad's diary, and the way that everyone seemed to think George was the one taking her dating Cedric the hardest. That night Aster dreamt that Sirius and Professor Lupin were both locked up in a cage together, and that George and Cedric were wrestling in front of them. Harry and Dumbledore were both dancing around in tutus and there was a faceless red-haired woman claiming to be her mum and that she was there to take Aster to the moon. Hermione and Draco were sitting down and drinking tea on the back of a hippogriff and Fred was swing dancing with Montague.

**Ok, quickly, the scene in where Hermione and Aster had a little talk is actually a sort of personal for me as I wrote it out. I'm a large girl, I weigh 230ibs (I weighed about 250ibs only 4 months ago) and my nephew is 11 years old right now, but he's also overweight for his age. I used to have my belly button pierced (they took it out when I had a gallbladder removal surgery) and when we go to the beach I walk around with only my bikini top and bottoms. I'm not ashamed of my weight, and my nephew noticed it, and he sort of was. He was at that age where people would tease him because his stomach jiggles or because he likes 2 double cheeseburgers instead of 1. So he and I had a very deep conversation about our weight and being confident and not caring what other people think about it.**

**And I have this niece (the same nephew's older sister) who is turning 13 in only a week and a half. She's a skinny little thing, but she has an older sister who I think is 18 or 19 now (they have the same dad, but different moms) and her sister dresses as to where her skin shows. Now I'm not going to lie, although I'm overweight, I am only 22 and I also like to wear short shorts and tight shirts (please don't judge me) and recently I've been noticing my niece is starting to wear short shirts that shows most of her stomach, but she tugs at it all day as if uncomfortable to be showing her skin. So I don't know if she's wearing the shirts only because she sees her sister dressed like that, or me dressed like that (her mom doesn't dress like that) or her other aunties or friends or something, but it's obvious that she's uncomfortable about it. I'm meaning to talk to her about it but she's always at her dad's house lately, so I haven't seen her yet, but when writing out the scene between Hermione and Aster I pictured the conversation I had with my nephew about being confident no matter what size you are, and the conversation I'm waiting to have with my niece about dressing how you want to dress and not because you see other people dressing in another way.**

**I spent all of my life hidden with baggy long sleeves and long jeans and jackets, but it wasn't until after graduating high school that I finally got comfortable in my own skin and decided I like shorts that show the tattoo I have on my thigh, or shirts that hug my body. I'm comfortable in how I dress, and I want my nieces and nephews to all know that they can dress comfortably for themselves too, no matter what they want to wear (as long as I don't see ass or anything else that they shouldn't be showing off)! **

**I'm already expecting to get some flames because I'm 'going with how the media dresses young females' or I'm 'agreeing with what the media is teaching young girls' and whatever else some people are going to argue about, so I just want it known on why I pointed out what I did and why I had that scene in there. The day I wrote out this chapter was the same day I noticed my niece tugging at her shirt when she came to visit me, so it was strong in my mind while I was writing. I honestly don't care how anyone dresses (as long as I can't see anything I'm not supposed to) so I'm just letting you all know so I don't have to personally reply to whatever flames I'm going to get about that scene!**

**Sorry, that was a longer explanation then I intended, so no talking about everything else that happened.(: just please review. What did you guys like, what didn't you like? Oh and did anybody spot the MAJOR plot twist that's randomly thrown in there? I'd like to point out that this story was written while I was recovering from surgery and drugged on pain medications(:**


	10. I'll be in Wyoming with no laptop

**I am so so so so sorry! Before I went up to Colorado in March, we lost our internet. I was the one paying for internet as a part of my Mobi phone plan. Then my uncle got another internet plan and told me to cancel mine so we can just use his one. THREE DAYS after I cancelled my plan, my uncle decided to cancel his plan as well. We had no internet, and I couldn't restart my plan because I needed my money for my trip. So I would use the internet when at my cousin's house, but I couldn't really update my stories.**

**Then I decided to stay up in Colorado a bit longer than I had originally planned to, seriously debating on whether I should just stay there or come back home. Eventually I came back home, and I find that my nieces did something to my laptop – which is now broken! I don't have the money to see what's wrong with it or to get it fixed or anything, and for some reason I didn't save my stories to my flashkey for a while.**

**I basically lost my entire 'Fire And Ice' and 'A Glitch In The Timeline' stories. I also lost the next two chapters I had written out for 'A Brothers War'! I have my old laptop which is just really slow and keeps freezing on me after every so often, and it's difficult to try to rewrite everything – which is why I had to get the new laptop in the first place. So I didn't bother on getting a new internet plan if I won't even be able to use it.**

**And last night my best friend, the one whose kids I watch, called me up out of the blue while I was getting my newest tattoos done. And she says, "Hey, so I just booked us plane tickets. Save up whatever you can; we're leaving in 4 days. And pack the same clothes you took to Colorado 'cause it's like a blizzard over in Jackson Hole!" – so I'm going to Wyoming with my best friend and her two kids to go see how she likes it there, and to find out if it's worth moving there with her fiancé or stay back on Oahu and just wait for 9 months until he comes back home here. We're going to be up there for a month!**

**Honestly, I'm looking forward to getting away from this island again. So much has happened, as all of my loves from 'A Brothers War' knows from my woes on the previous chapters, so it's nice to just up and leave.**

**I just wanted to let you all know why I haven't updated in too long, and to let you know that I haven't abandoned you guys and I will finish it, I just don't know when. I don't even know when I'll be back on the island. I'm at my cousin's house right now, using his laptop just to upload this note for all of you. I have internet on my phone so I'll be able to get on here through that, but I can't actually update with it.**

**-Evelynn Leilani**


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